Of Gangs and Groceries
by Gwydion
Summary: AU : COMPLETE! The new girl in town, Hitomi has more than a few problems. She's left alone to take care of her brother, has a new job, and is constantly pestered by the infamous gang leader, White Dragon, who shows up in the strangest of places...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: First off, I did not write this alone. My friend T4 and I co-wrote this. The only thing was that it was not meant to be fanfiction. It was just a story (our 5th, I believe) about made up people, this time gang members. So the names have been changed along with some minor details that really don't effect the story at all. I got the idea that it would make an interesting Esca AU from my sis, Esca-lover (Hey MT!), who would not let me live if I did not write her an Esca fanfic. So I kinda cheated, but here it is! We'll see how this goes. ^_~ 

Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne, although I paid for half of the 8 VHS tapes (subbed) that we bought off ebay, so I technically own half of them. 

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Of Gangs and Groceries   
Gwydion and T4

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Chapter 1 

"Hey you! What do you think you're looking at, punk??"

"N-nothing, sir. I was j-just moving along," a short, hunched over man stuttered. 

"Geez, man, you are such a wuss, you know that?" said the taller man next to him. "You really oughta learn how to stick up for yourself." 

"Don't you know who that was!? ...moron..." 

The taller man sighed. Sure, he knew who he was. That was White Dragon, the most vicious gang leader on this side of town. He was known to suddenly beat up people if they so much as looked at him wrong. "And your point is...?" 

"You're so annoying," the shorter man replied, rolling his eyes. 

Dragon narrowed his eyes and ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. He had too much on his mind to worry about scrawny, little dorks. He looked at his watch. "Rats, I gotta go." As he jumped off the fire escape on their abandoned warehouse base, he bumped into someone. 

"Owww!" shrieked a shrill voice. 

"Move it, lady," he growled, "I ain't got time for this right now." 

As he ran past her, she mumbled to herself, "People! So inconsiderate. Never have time for even small apologies." 

He stopped and turned to look at her. "You must be new, right? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" 

"Undoubtedly someone with very poor manners." 

"Oh, you think so?" he said with a smirk, "Well, you'd be awfully surprised." He grabbed her wrist. "See? I'm even gonna give you a ride for knocking you over." Dragon began dragging her to his car. 

"Hmph, an '86 Camry. I'll bet you think you're cool." 

"Shut up, will ya?" With that, he opened the door and threw her in the backseat. He quickly jumped in the driver's seat and took off before she could get out. 

She sat herself up in the back and took a good look at her abductor. The man was tall with dark, shaggy hair and peircing red eyes. He wore a worn out leather jacket over a black shirt and jeans. What caught her attention was the gold ring he wore on a chain around his neck. She kept looking at it in the rearview mirror until he suddenly turned a corner, causing her to fall out of the seat. He smirked. 

"Dude!! Who do you think you are??" 

"You can refer to me as Dragon, miss...?" 

Ignoring his question, she requested, "Would it be possible to be dropped off at the library, Mr. Dragon? Please?" 

At this, the driver merely laughed. "Right, wench. Can I call you that? You don't mind do you, since you obviously aren't providing me with a better one? Why in the world would you want to go to the library, anyway? That's on the other side of town. Why were you in the ghetto?" 

"What is this? 20 Questions?" 

He shrugged. "You don't have to answer now, although I can guarrantee that I'll get the information I want later if that's how you want it." 

"What I really want is to go to the library. Could you please oblige? You seem to be headed that way anyhow..." she said. Who did this guy think he was anyway? The Czar of Russia? The Shah of Iran? ... 

"Hmm, no." 

"Fine." She scootched over to the far door, unlocked it (thank goodness for the lack of power locks), and, as he slowed to avoid a random pedestrian, she jumped. Fortunately, she fell in a pile of mulch around a tree. She stood, brushed herself off, then headed to the nearest subway entrance to get herself to the library. She had places she had to be. 

Dragon just laughed as she rolled on the ground. He may not have gotten much of a chance to intimidate her, but that would just have to do. He looked at his watch again. "Dang! I have to be there in five minutes!" He sped past the pedestrian and hurried toward his destination. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After making the appropriate copies at the library, the girl made her way to her very important engagement. Today, she was interviewing for a job - a much needed job. Times had gotten tough for her family... well... what was left of it. She jogged to the grocery store a few blocks back. Man - she was running late. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Van! What's up?" 

"Hey Gaddes." 

"Late again, I see. It's not like you have anything else to do other than working here," Gaddes chided. 

"Riiight," Van replied as he grudgingly adjusted his cap and clocked in. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes sir, I would try my utmost to be on time," she assured the manager. 

"Well, Hitomi, it seems that we could find a place for you here. We are in need of cashiers around here. I'll have Marlene get you all settled in." 

After Marlene had her sign the appropriate forms and gone through the explanation of the union and its dues, she was given a smock, a name tag with "My name is Hitomi. May I help you?" typed on it, and instructed to go shadow Eries on register five for the rest of the day. For the first hour, she merely packed behind the seasoned cashier while the cashier explained the ropes and the way the computer worked. Then, she was given a chance to run it. It all went fine until she got to the vegetables. The codes! Ah! The codes! There were so many. Everytime, she had to ask or look it up. She felt horrible that it took her so long. As nicely as she could, she asked the customers to excuse her. Most were pretty nice about it. Only a few were annoyed. For two more hours everything went fine, but then Eries had to go home, but Hitomi had two more hours. Nervous, she said good-bye and thank you, then faced the line with determination.

'This family must have like twenty people in it!' she thought as she tried to bag and check out this lady who was trying to keep her annoying three-year-old from the candy rack, but failing. 'Why are all the baggers over there talking to each other when I need help!? The nerve!!!' She eyed them, totally ticked. After about another twenty minutes of this, she was about to scream when she heared: "Paper or plastic?" At the sound of the voice, she jolted. It couldn't be.... She turned. It was - well, sort of. Was it? It had to be. 

"Paper in plastic, please," the customer asked. "I like to have the security of the paper but with the handles of the plastic." 

But, Van wasn't listening as he gawked at the cashier, not believing his eyes. It was her. He couldn't believe it - anyone but her! He noticed that she was also staring at him. "Do you need my help or not?" 

Brought back to reality, she responded, "Yes. Please." Her eyes looked at him. Why weren't they red like before? Contacts? And what had happened to his hair? Oh - he's stuffed it under the cap. This was just too creepy. 

At that, Marlene came on the loud speaker and said, in the necessary nasally voice that using a PA system requires, "Hitomi, take a break. Hitomi." 

Hitomi sighed for joy. A break was much needed. She walked over to the counter to pick up her purse. 

Van finished bagging the order and walked up to the woman in charge of breaks.

"Can I go on break yet?" he growled.

The woman glared at him for a second. She then looked down at the schedule in her hands. "I suppose," she answered, realizing that she had indeed forgotten to let him go earlier. As soon as he heard her response, Van rushed over to the time clock, clocked out, and headed to the back room where he sat down and flipped the TV on. Moments later, the door opened again. This time it was Hitomi. He looked up at her. "What are you doing here?" 

"I'm on break, of course. They called it over the loud speaker. Can't you hear?" Van groaned. "Right, Mr. High and Mighty Dragon. My name is Hitomi. Question one answered." 

"I think you have mistaken me for someone else," he replied as he turned back to the TV. 

"Oh, I see how it is. Trying to play it all _innocent_? Don't want your coworkers to know that you abduct innocent strangers in your rusting '86 Camry!?" 

Van pushed the chair he was sitting in back and stood up. He slowly walked up to the new cashier, stopping a few inches from her face, a smirk on his face. "Now, why on earth would I do that? I am merely a well-mannered bagger at the local grocery store." He grabbed her arm. "Isn't that right, _Hitomi_?" 

"Oh my word. You need help. Medical help." She tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he was pretty strong, probably from lifting all of the beer, dog food, and top soil. 

When she stopped struggling, he lowered his voice and said, "My name is Van. You got that? Another word from you about earlier and I can promise you that you will regret it." He let her arm go as he walked back to his seat, focusing once again on the TV. 

"Will I now...? Whatever," she muttered as she walked out of the room. She wasn't afraid of him, per se, but she needed this job and didn't want to ruin anything. 

The bagger just sat in the room, thinking. If she really did report him, he'd be on the run from the police... again. That was the last thing he needed right now. He clutched the ring under his shirt and grit his teeth, unwanted memories rushing back. He quickly pushed them away, realizing that it was about time for him to get back to work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why does five hours feel like eternity here?" Hiomi thought as she had to look up the code for Bing "*_bing_*" cherries yet again. "Fifteen more minutes... will it ever end?" 

Van glanced at the clock. He then continued his staring at the new cashier's back. If looks could kill, she would have been very dead by now. She knew his secret and nothing was keeping her from telling everyone, including his manager. Then he'd be kicked out for sure. After another fifteen minutes of staring, he finally made his way to the time clock. Just as he got there, Hitomi was clocking out. Without acknowledging his presence, she left to go home. Even though her home was on the other side of the city, the subway was expensive, so she decided to walk home. 

"Hey, babe, you need a lift?" The girl groaned as she recognized the voice. "I'm just trying to make up for earlier," said Van, or White Dragon now that his contacts were out and he had his leather on. 

"No thanks," she said coldly, keeping her eyes ahead of her as she walked. 

"Oh, but it's the least I could do," he replied as he walked up beside her. 

"I don't need any sarcasm from you." She turned to face him. "And, for that matter, why would I ever get into a car with someone who abducted me just a few hours ago? I'm not a moron, thank you kindly." She rolled her eyes. 

"Ouch. No need to be rude." Dragon put his arm around her shoulders. "And like I said, I'm just trying to make up for the earlier incident." 

"Which one?" she asked, annoyed. 

"Take your pick." 

She looked at her watch. She did need to get home - dinner had to be prepared. But, did she trust him enough for a ride? He was creepily moody, and honestly, she barely knew him. Biting her lip, she looked him over again. The smirk on his lips wasn't exactly reassuring. 

"I gotta go." She started walking, this time at a fairly brisk pace. 

"Oh, come on," he insisted, grabbing her arm. 

"Let go of me!" She pulled her arm away. Her green eyes looked at him seriously. "You need to not touch me." 

Dragon held his hands up in mock defense. "Take it easy! Alright, fine. A guy tries to be nice..." He slowly turned and headed for his car, glancing back at the cashier. 

"Oh my word..." She mumbled as she headed home. 'Who did this weirdo think he was anyway!? ...' were the thoughts running through her head as Dragon sped by in his car. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She rounded the corner to her apartment building which was on the other side of the alley from Dragon's warehouse. It was always depressing coming home. Life had changed so much in the last few months. Getting up her courage, she headed up the three flights of stairs to meet her brother. Opening the door to the bare room with only two chairs and a bed and plenty of unwanted rodents and bugs, she saw her brother reading a book. 

"I'm sorry I'm late, Momaru. I got the job at the grocery store." 

"Really? That's nice." He hadn't taken his face from the book, but who could blame him? Why would you want to look around at this mess? But, life would go on - if she had anything to do with it. 

"I'll make dinner, okay?" He grunted as she went to the counter. 'What can be made with a half a loaf of bread, an apple, yogurt, and peanuts? I guess we'll just have to eat them separately,' she thought. 

They sat down at the table together, not talking much, but just eating what they had. After dinner, they read, in silence. Anywhere was better than that apartment. While Hitomi lived the life of hope through Jane Eyre, Momaru road on the seas with Charlotte Doyle. Soon, they fell asleep and awaited a new day's dawn. 

to be continued... 


	2. Chapter 2

First, I'll start it off with "Gwydion's review responses" because there were just some people I just had to reply to…

Esca-lover (and Dilly-sama) ~ Heh, of COURSE you had the first review! It hadn't even shown up on the page yet! But anyways… Dilly, don't worry! I won't leave you out of this fic! Of course, when you come in you'll have to wait to find out… And you had BETTER be happy that I agreed to turn this into an Esca fic little miss "write me an esca fic or DIE!!"! ^_^;; Love ya, sis!

Sereneblaze ~ Thanx, and I'm glad you think the characters fit seeing as how it wasn't intended when T4 and I started this story… ^_^;;

dillpops ~ Wow, on your fav list already!? Cool! ^____^ Oh, and T4 ESPECIALLY found your compliment on spelling and grammar encouraging since we didn't even go back and check it, lol.

Princess Neptune ~ Hehe, "interesting" is definitely the word.

Mini-MoonStar ~ We will!! (As long as I have time between my 2 jobs T_T)

Queen of Hearts747 ~ Yes!! Definitely weird! We would have it NO other way! And it only gets weirder (in my opinion…).

MT ~ Wow… Ok, this may take a while! Let's see… GAHH!! The first thing you do is compare me to my sis!!! XD *whacks MT with statue* (Esca-lover: HEY! Don't hit giant me with MY statue! Gwydo: Sorry ^_^;;) *pats MT on head* Sorry about that! And honestly, that is a compliment so thanx! Heh, the Anne Family Gang… I'm seeing a cameo coming… or not ^_^;; And, indeed, I do work as a bagger at a grocery store. T4 used to be a cashier. Sooooo, we take all of our stories from there and put them in the fic (I even get to make a cameo in this chapter ^o^). Hmm, so you think there's something up with Van's necklace, ne? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out… Oh YEAH, that means I have to UPDATE doesn't it?? Mwahahahaha… Ouch! Watch it with those teeth! If you bite me too hard, I'll bleed to death and then T4 can write for Alex, er, I mean, Hitomi, but Zel - I MEAN, White Dragon won't exist any more! What would you do THEN?? This story - Van = BAD! So no more biting!! *runs off to find something of her OWN to threaten MT with* *runs back* Ah-ha! Something every Esca reader will fear! Gabumon, digivolve! Gabumon digivolve to… Garurumon!!! XD Oops, better not mention the SUM (Semi-UnMentionable) thing in a fic I co-wrote with T4… She'll kill me! ANYWAYS… I must post this so that we can get another crazy review from the infamous MT!

SabineballZ ~ Hehe, and poor Hitomi's life will only get worse! ^_^;; We'll have to wait a bit to find out Van's thoughts on this…

OK… Now that THAT is over… On with the fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne. Oh, and neither does T4. ^_^;;

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Of Gangs and Groceries

Gwydion and T4

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Chapter 2

"Crap!" Dragon punched a nearby wall.

"Dude, calm down," said one of the members of his gang, "I don't know what's eating you, but I'm sure whoever it is, we can teach them a lesson." He punched his hand, emphasizing his point.

"_We_ will stay out of this," he replied harshly, "I have to deal with this... problem on my own, got it? We have bigger things to worry about."

"Right, boss... the Slayers... What should we do?" Dragon's followers circled around him to hear the big plan. 

"Okay, recently I've been hearing that they were planning something big. You all know that they've been causing us problems, but I think it's bigger than that. I think they're trying to expand their territory. I think you realize where I'm headed with this," explained their leader.

The groupies looked at each other. No, they really didn't have a clue. Finally, one of them ventured, "Well, why don't you just make sure we're all on the same page?" 

Dragon closed his eyes, his eyebrow twitching. Were they really that dense? "They want to kick us out. For good."

"We knew that, but what are we going to do about it?" someone from the back asked. 

Dragon sighed and began to explain the plan.

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A breakfast of peanuts. Sad. Two weeks until she got a paycheck from the grocery store. Two days until her paycheck from her second job. It was five in the morning as Hitomi headed to her other job at the pizza shop on the corner, making crusts in the wee hours of the morning. She worked there until 11, taking mistakes home as lunch for her brother and herself. Then, she worked mid-afternoon until close at the grocery store. Wearing her hair back in a piece of cloth, she walked to the pizza place. Only she and the owner, Mr. Moleman opened. This job had been such a blessing for her, in their new-found situation. Today, her brother, along with spending most of the day at the library, was going to put up signs to offer his services as a dog-walker and any other various jobs. 

"Hello, Hitomi!" cried Mr. Moleman when she arrived. "And how are you today?"

"Fine, thanks." Her stomach growled. Leaving the rest of the loaf of bread to her brother was all she could give him. She wished she could have left him more. "How are you?"

"I feel a good day ahead," He smiled his wide grin and got her started on making the dough. 

"So, how is working at the store? Good?" he asked as he got started chopping mushrooms.

"It's a good job," she answered, not wanting to think about the weird events of the day before.

"Ahh, I see, good, good," he said with a smile.

The rest of the morning went as usual. Mr. Moleman was always of good spirits, so it made the morning go fairly quickly. Since they opened at 10, for the early lunch crowd, Hitomi worked the front counter, taking the few orders they had while the owner worked in the back with the other workers who had come in. Soon, the first customer entered the shop.

"Hey, sweetie," said the tall, young man, "I'd like a pepperoni pizza with a little of you on top." He winked at her, flashing her a toothy grin.

"Riiight..." She typed in the order. "That's $10.37, please." She turned to hand the order to a cook. With a frown, the man paid her and went to sit down in a nearby booth.

At 11, as usual, Mr. Moleman gave her some food to bring home to her brother. She'd have to eat fast because she had to be at the grocery store at 1, and it was a long walk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Man, I'm late again," Dragon mumbled as he adjusted his hat, making sure his hair wasn't sticking out.

"Late again, eh Van?"

"Shut up, Gaddes."

This was not his day. Here he was stuck at work while he had a rumble to worry about. 'Maybe I'll escape for a bit on my cart hour,' he thought, 'Or maybe a little before that.' He grinned. Most of the other baggers were just as lazy, but luckily the one that actually did all of the work was in today so he wouldn't be missed as much. She could do all of the work.

"Is plastic alright?" he heard her ask.

"Paper please."

Van watched her smile become a little more forced as she nodded and began opening the paper bag. Then he noticed who the "good little packer" was bagging for. He groaned. 'Not her again.'

"Why did my Pepsi not come up on sale?" the customer asked.

"I'm sorry, Coke 2 liters are on sale, not Pepsi 2 liters. However, the Pepsi 24 packs are on sale," Hitomi tried to explain as nicely as possible.

"But the ad said they were on sale."

"Yes, Coke, but not Pepsi. A different Pepsi size is on sale."

"But they were on the shelf next to the sign."

Just then the bagger piped in, "I'll go check."

"Thank you," Hitomi said as she began to pack the rest of the goods in paper. On the very first bag, she got a paper cut; now, she knew why the baggers hated paper so much. No one would come and help now that they could see the customer wanted paper. It was all a lost cause. She looked around. It's not like any of them were doing anything. Then her eye caught the annoying Van from yesterday. She closed her eyes and sighed as she was sure to put the cans on the bottom of the bag. 

Finally, the bagger returned. "I'm sorry; it is only the Coke on sale. The Pepsi is further down the aisle and has a different sign."

"Would you like the Pepsi, then ma'am?" Hitomi asked. 

"No," the customer said abruptly.

"Would you like the Pepsi 24 pack?"

"No."

"Okay, then it comes to $108.36, please."

The customer gruffly placed the money into her hand. As soon as she had her change, she made her way to her car, a scowl on her face and her keys on the counter. Since the good bagger had gone onto another checker's lane, Hitomi turned her light off and ran after the customer. 

"Ma'am," she called, but the lady kept walking. "Ma'am! Your keys!"

The woman stared at her for a moment before grabbing them and huffing off.

Slightly winded, Hitomi stood there for a moment. She wanted to yell "you're welcome" at the lady, but managed to keep herself under control. However, when she turned around to go back to work, she bumped into someone. That someone was wearing a neon orange vest.

"Do you mind?" said Van angrily, "I have to get the carts!" With that, he stormed past her.

"Wha-?" she mumbled, confused. She returned to the store. How many more hours of this?

"Finally!" yelled Van as he ran out of the store. He found the bagger's "secret hiding place" and sat down to think. Being a working gang leader sure had it's difficulties. "Ok, now let's see..."

"Van! You letting Jessi do all the work too?" Gaddes asked as he rounded the corner.

His back stiffened. "Why are you here?"

"Uh... it's where we always go, man. Calm down."

"Leave."

"Who said you controlled this place, huh?" Gaddes challenged. 

Van stood up and glared at his fellow bagger. "I did. Now leave. Got it? I am _not_ in the mood."

"You got issues, man... issues..." Gaddes muttered as he returned to the store.

"Idiot," Van mumbled to himself as he got back to thinking of a plan of attack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Finally." It was 10, closing time. Hitomi started her walk home; it would take probably an hour. Well, if she walked fast, maybe only 45 minutes. She was almost home when she heard someone approach her.

"Hey," said the man, "You're the chick White Dragon was talking to a few days ago, right?"

She turned. Who in the world was this!? "I don't know what you're talking about," she said in the tone that said she did, but didn't want to get into anything. 

The man smirked and grabbed her arm. "I think you do. My boss would really like to talk to you, babe. I suggest you come quietly." The man began dragging her down the street towards a dark alleyway.

'Why me?' was all she could think - well, that, and worry for her safety. These folks were nuts.

A few minutes later, Hitomi found herself in front of a silver-haired man who seemed to be having a bit too much fun with his lighter and was looking rather menacing.

"So, my boys tell me that you and Dragon had a little chat yesterday," he said.

She sat there staring back at him. She had nothing to say to this ruffian.

"You'd better cooperate if you know what's good for you," said the man that had dragged her here. "Now, what did you talk about?"

"When?" What was this guy talking about anyway?

"We saw him grab you and throw you in his car. We think he was trying to shut you up about something. What was it?" The silver-haired man's gaze moved from his lighter to her face, waiting for her answer.

"Oh - I just annoyed him. That's all."

"Is that so? Well, that little creep really annoys us. Especially because he always manages to disappear at the same time every day of the week. We think you know where he runs off to. How about letting us in on it?"

"Oh... well... I dunno. What time does he disappear?" she asked, an attempt at innocence. 

"It's usually around 1 o'clock when he disappears and he reappears anywhere from 5 to 8." The man stared at her, the flame of his lighter still flickering a few inches from his face.

"Oh..." Hitomi bit her lip. "I really don't know. But, you are right. It was a little before 1 yesterday when he ran into me."

"Is that so?" asked the big boss man, "Well then you won't mind telling us what exactly you talked about in his car. We know you two exchanged a few words before your escape."

"Well, I asked him who in the world he thought he was, then he asked me like 20 questions which I did not desire to answer, then I jumped out of the car. But first, I made fun of his '86 Camry. That's really all that happened." She babbled, hoping they'd let her go.

"Really?"

"Really. That's all."

The man abruptly closed his lighter and quickly glanced at his lackey and back to Hitomi. "Well, just in case you're lying, we're going to keep you here for a while."

"What?! But, I have to get home to my brother. I can't leave him alone all night," she screamed as the croney grabbed her arm. "You can't do this to me!!!"

"Oh, I think I can. Unless, of course, you give me the information I want."

"What information? I've told you exactly what happened in the car. Wait - I did forget something."

"What?" he asked with expectancy.

"I asked him to drop me off at the library, but he said no," she answered matter-of-factly.

The man scowled. "We'll get nothing out of her. Show her out." At that, the other man threw her out the second story window into the dumpster below.

She pulled herself out and once there, she sat on the ground, leaned against the dumpster, and cried. Could life get any worse? Fresh garbage fell from the window above right on top of her. She could hear the laughter of the thugs above. Yes, life could get worse. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She opened the door. "Hi, I'm home," she muttered, realizing her stench. "How was your day, Momaru?" No answer. She looked around. Where was her brother? "Momaru, where are you? This isn't funny." Her heart sunk. Where was he!? On one of the two chairs, there was a note. Maybe he just went out for a walk or something. She went over and picked it up. It read: "We have your brother. If you want him back unharmed, keep your mouth shut. - WD."

to be continued…

A/N: Hehe, cliffhanger! Isn't that mean? Ah, well, to find out what happens, be sure to read the next chapter! And more Esca-characters have finally been introduced! If anyone can NOT guess who the guy with a lighter is, you REALLY should not be reading Escaflowne fanfiction. ^_^;; Anyway, hope you enjoyed the next installment of mine and T4's fic!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: First things first - "WD" = "White Dragon" So Van captured Momaru, not Dilandau. ^_^;; Sorry if that confused anyone! And dillpops, this one should be a little longer, but not much… If they were longer, we'd run out of story to post too quickly! We're slow writers. Well, that's really my fault, not T4's… ^_^;;

Also, this chapter is dedicated to MT, or MaboroshiTsuki, who seems to be going through some hard times. ;_; I hope things get better for you, MT!

Disclaimer: We don't own Escaflowne or it's characters.

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Of Gangs and Groceries

Gwydion and T4

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Chapter 3

Hitomi wanted to cry, just sit down and cry, but there was no time for that. There was no time to clean up either. She must get her brother back.

She raced down the three flights of stairs she had just grudgingly climbed and ran across the dark alley to the abandoned warehouse. The main entrance was locked, so she did the next best thing: she climbed up the fire escape. She entered on the second floor.

"Hey, you guys hear something?"

"Shhh... keep it down. Everyone, you know where to go."

Hitomi heard muffled footsteps coming from below her. She backed into a corner and grabbed a nearby pipe. What was she going to do now? There were so many of them and one of her. Way to not think ahead. She took a deep breath and looked for the stairs. Her brother would probably be downstairs with the rest of them, right?

"It's a spy!" yelled a nearby gang member.

She groaned inaudibly. Well, at least she knew where one of them was now. Sneaking up behind him, she took a big swing with the pipe and hit him square in the back of the head. Unfortunately for her, the rest soon showed up. Dragon walked up to her, a smirk on his face. Like a crazy woman, she choked up on the pipe and threatened, "Give me back my brother!"

"I see you got our note," said the leader.

"You know what?!" she said as she shook her pipe at him and walked forward. "I stook up for you. I don't know why, but I didn't tell that crazy guy with the incredibly annoying obsession with his lighter that you work at the gr-"

"Shut up!" he screamed. "Now what was that about a guy with a lighter?"

Ignoring his question, she looked around the room as best as she could and demanded, "Where is my brother?!"

"H-hitomi?" came a timid call from the next room. It was Momaru's voice.

"Momaru?" She thrust around, away from Dragon and headed in the direction of the voice. Unfortunately, the circle of gang members closed in around her. Her brown eyes furious, she growled, "Move."

The leader moved so that he was standing directly in front of her, eyes narrow. "Not until you answer my questions. You want your brother back in one piece? Then I suggest you do as I say."

She waved the pipe in his face and growled, "You had better not hurt my brother." After a short pause, she continued, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to tell me what happened with the man with the lighter," he said.

"You wanna know what happened, huh? Well, so I'm walking home after closing the store tonight, which I'm _sure_ you know _all_ about, when someone calls out to me. Next thing I know, I'm being dragged down this dark alley where I'm taken to this lighter freak. He asked me all about the little car ride of yesterday and where you disappear to all the time around, oh say, one in the afternoon. Any takers there?" She was annoyed and worried about her brother. Not a good combo.

"Look, that's not important," Dragon said quickly before his gang could say anything. He didn't want Hitomi to give them any more hints as to his strange disappearings. "And you said before that you said you didn't know? Right? And you had better not lie to me about this because I do have my ways of finding out." He stared her straight in the eye, looking for any signs that she might be lying.

She rolled her eyes. How obnoxious! "I know - and you know what? You and your ways had better give my brother back and never - oh - I mean NEVER bother us again. Got it?" Now, the fear in her voice was starting to rise.

"DID YOU TELL HIM ANYTHING OR NOT!?"

"For cryin' out loud, NO, I DIDN'T! Okay? Can't you tell? Instead of being escorted out nicely, I was thrown out the 2nd story window into a dumpster! Smell me, 'kay?" She thrust her arm out into his face. A piece of used floss, the mint wax kind, was dangling from her sleeve.

Satisfied, he smirked. "No thanks." He backed away from the psychotic girl and turned to walk away. His groupies looked at him, confused.

"You had better thank me for all the crap you put me through, jerk!" She pushed passed him as she said this, looking for her brother.

Dragon waved a hand. In moments, several gang members had grabbed her arms, forcing the pipe away from her. He casually faced Hitomi again, the smirk still in place. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a switch blade. He slowly made his way to the trembling Momaru, who still had no idea what exactly was going on.

"That had better be to cut him loose," she warned, not that she could do anything about it if it hadn't been.

"Heh, yeah right," said the burly man behind her. "The White Dragon is ruthless, man! He don't care about nobody. Why this man has - hey!"

At that moment, their leader had indeed cut the boy's ropes. Momaru stumbled out of the chair and ran as fast as he could towards his sister. With another wave, his gang reluctantly let go of Hitomi. "Now get lost," the leader commanded. With that, he motioned for his gang to follow him back down to the lower level.

The two siblings stood in the middle of the room, hugging tightly and crying. "I'm so sorry, Momaru... so sorry," his sister continued to mutter.

"Wha-What was that all about?" he asked quietly as he moved towards the fire escape.

"N-nothing. It's over now," she assured him, even though, in her head, she added: "I hope." They both went home where Hitomi cleaned up and lay down for a restless 4 or so hours of sleep before she had to go to meet Mr. Moleman and work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, Dilandau has been noticing my disappearences, huh?" Dragon muttered to himself as he adjusted his cap. He took one last look in his rear view mirror to make sure he wouldn't be recognized and made for the grocery store. 'That means I'll have to act and fast, before he figures out what I've really been up to,' he thought as he swiped in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is what she had been dreading the whole hour she had been at the grocery store: Dragon's arrival. She inwardly groaned. Why was her life so screwed up? Ever since last year...

The gang leader's eyes narrowed as he glanced around, seeing Hitomi at her register. He quickly walked up to the group of baggers that were standing around while no one else bagged (Jessi was not there today).

Hitomi's line was full - 3 ladies who looked like they were buying for forty people each were in line. What made it worse was that they wanted paper in plastic. Groan.

"We need all packers up front, please. Packers."

Van frowned. Why they were being forced to work, he did not know. I mean, it was only a job at a grocery store. Who really cared? Most customers just yelled at him for putting their eggs on top of their bread anyway. So why didn't they just do it themselves? He quickly walked towards a lane, making sure it was not Hitomi's lane.

Unfortunately, since Hitomi didn't get a bagger, she had to bag everything herself. The customers just stood there and watched her in annoyed impatience, rather than helped. What a nuisance.

"Young man, I told you! I want all of my cold things in plastic and my bread kept in a separate paper bag! Why did you just put my bread in plastic underneath my cheese!?"

Van just rolled his eyes, not really listening to the old lady that was yelling at him as he took out the cheese.

"Oh - just move - I'll bag it myself!" the elderly lady growled.

He held up his hands in mock defense as he walked off to bag at another lane. Unfortunately, due to the managers keeping a close eye on all the baggers, only one other lane was open to bag at: You-Know-Who's.

Groaning, he walked up to You-Know-Who's lane and grabbed at the bottle of wine she had just put into the special little brown paper bag. Startled, she let go, realizing who it was. With a slight smile, she informed with an upbeat tone (well, at least upbeat for someone who was dead tired), "They'd like paper in plastic."

Glaring at her, he snatched up a paper bag, tore open the plastic, and stuffed the paper down into it. He was tempted to throw the bottle inside, but he wasn't in the mood to clean up a mess.

"Thank you," she said sweetly as he filled the last bag and she started to ring up the next customer before he got away. You couldn't keep a bagger for long... well, except that one Jessi girl.

"Paper or plastic?" he growled at the next lady in line.

"Oh, plastic will be just fine, honey," she answered with a smile.

As Hitomi rang up some of the lady's produce, she commented on the nice ripeness of the kiwis. Yes, as a cashier you try anything to make the customers happy. After that, she received a tutorial of how to find the best kiwis to be eaten. In a humoring fashion, the cashier warned Van, "Be sure to keep these kiwis on top - they're awfully ripe and ought not to be smooshed."

He smirked. "Oh, don't worry," he said a little too nicely as he took them from her.

"My, my, you two just work so well together. It's a rarity these days. Wait a second," the elderly lady leaned forward a little and whispered in a too loud voice that had denture cream odor, "You two aren't, you know, an item?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye. Hitomi was paralyzed with dumbness at the question. How could she ever think such a thing? She hated him with her entire being.

"No." Van didn't even look up as he continued bagging. 'Her kiwis are definitely getting squashed,' he thought bitterly.

The rest of the order was continued in silence. Hitmoi shut her lane's light off. Her first break was coming up.

The bagger took this opportunity to steal away to the bagger's "secret hiding spot". He felt he deserved a nice long break.

The weather was nice today, so Hitomi went outside to eat the apple she had just purchased. The warm breeze made it nice to just sit and think. After she finished the apple, she sat with her eyes closed - picturing a different life, wondering what it would be like if she were still living it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You guys got it?" said Dragon. His gang looked at him and nodded. "Good. This plan will be put into effect tomorrow. We don't have time to waste. We'll have to strike Dilandau and the rest of the Slayers good and hard, you got me? There isn't room in this gang for losers, so if you're too big of a wuss, I suggest you skip town unless you also want to be targeted. Remember to meet me here at 8 sharp. Any questions?"

The guys looked around and their gaze fell upon one poor chap. He spoke up as it had been determined earlier, due to his picking the short straw. "J-just one, sir. Wh-why did you let the girl and her brother go?"

Their leader's eyes narrowed. "You care to ask that again?"

"N-no, sir," the questioner backed down, looking apologetically at the others.

"Anyone _else_ want to question my authority?"

No one spoke up, although everyone wanted to know. Unfortunately for Dragon, everyone had some reason thought up in their mind. Some thought it was because he was becoming soft. Others thought that there was something between the two - old relationship, new relationship. Minds were wandering, but tongues were still.

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Finally..." Hitomi muttered as she handed in her till (the drawer with all the moolah) at the office door. It was 8 o-clock, and she was heading home in hopes for a nice, long, uninterrupted sleep. Wouldn't that be a nice change of pace?

As she turned onto the main street in front of the building in which she was renting space, her senses heightened. She thought for sure she had seen something move in the shadows. She whipped around and took a closer look, but stayed in the alley's lamp light.

A hand suddenly clamped down on her mouth, and she was being dragged into the shadows. She thought to herself, "Man, I gotta get mace," as she struggled against the attacker's strength. It was a pretty good hold on her.

"I'd suggest you quit struggling if you don't want your life to end prematurely," growled a harsh voice in her ear.

"Mm-phmmmphm," she tried to speak, but his hand covered her mouth. Soon, she relaxed. No amount of movement was getting her away from him. He was just too strong.

"Now, if you do as I say, you won't get hurt," his voice barely above a whisper. "When I give the signal, over 30 men will be on the move through this city. If you don't want to get caught in their way, you had better run for that dumpster and stay there until all the noise has died down. Got it?" He took this opportunity to take a good look at his captive. "What the - WHY THE HECK ARE YOU HERE!?" Dragon's voice rang throughout the quiet alley.

She glared at him. "I was heading home. I live here, remember?" She was annoyed. She added indignantly, "And I am NOT getting in the dumpster. No way. Not again!"

"Fine! See if I give a crap about what happens to you! You had just better stay out of my gang's way, you hear me?"

She rolled her eyes and plopped herself down next to him, behind the cardboard boxes which he had pulled her behind. "I shoulda told lighter weirdo that you work at the grocery store..." she mumbled to herself. This whole mess was getting old.

"Well, you are lucky you didn't or else your brother would be in a few more pieces than he is now."

"Do you know how low that is? He's twelve for cryin' out loud! He's the only family I have left..." she trailed off, praying he was okay right now, as she sat here waiting to see what in the world was going to happen.

"Oh well isn't that just too bad for you," he snapped, "We should all just stop our fighting just so you and your poor little brother who moved _here_ can finally live in peace and quiet. The rest of us should go straight home and, oh wait, I forgot, most of us don't have homes to go back to! Gee, that really complicates the situation, doesn't it?" He glared at her, his fist clenched around the ring under his shirt.

She looked at him, good and long. After this long pause, she mumbled while looking him square in the eyes, "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a home to go home to either, really." She blew some stray hairs from her face, looking away. She paused. "But you know what? What little home I have left, you and your fighting has messed up. You don't need to fight... but, if you must, why have you brought me into it? I haven't asked for it. I don't want it. My past week has really sucked - thanks to you." She looked back into the alley, away from Dragon. Tears came to her eyes, but she couldn't let him see.

"In case you hadn't noticed, _you_ seem to always be in _my_ way, not the other way around," he said harshly, "Like now. If you'll excuse me, my gang is still awaiting my signal." He peered over a box and glanced around.

"You're excused..." she mumbled.

Without another word, Dragon jumped out of his hiding spot and ran down the alley, staying hidden in the shadows. Hitomi just sat behind the boxes with her arms pulling her legs up close around her, awaiting whatever this big hoopdala was about. Not too far from her, a flare suddenly shot into the sky. It had begun.

to be continued…

A/N: Hehe, the part in the store amuses me greatly… The poor lady's kiwis. ^_^;; At least I didn't end it at an evil cliffhangery type spot. It's logical, I think. Next chapter, the big rumble! White Dragon vs the Slayers! Oh, and don't expect much in the way of battle scenes… we still need work on those. ^_^;; Also, "Whitey" is short for White Dragon and is not in any way meant to offend anyone (except him, of course). Anyway, let me know what you think! MT, I hope you enjoyed your chapter and that life starts looking up!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello? Anybody here? ^_^;; Hehe... Yeah, sorry about the long wait, but I ran across some very unfortunate circumstances. The computer with the edited version of this chapter died before I had a chance to post it. And this chapter took forever to edit... Big G (the character who is Dilandau in this version) turned out to be rather stupid in our version (heh, he's funny...), but that just wasn't Dilly, so I had to make him not so dumb, not fat, and gotee-less... ^_^;; So yeah, that computer finally got fixed about 3 weeks later. 2 problems: I am not at home anymore, I'm at college, and I have a brother. Ok, that last one was really only a problem when it comes to why I didn't update. He deleted all my files because he thought I had them already. So all my work was lost, and not just this story, my other story, website stuff... Many, many hours gone to waste... So then I had to get myself in the mood to rewrite this section over again. And that would be my fault. You should all thank T4 for keeping me on my toes. It's hard to get me to work sometimes. But this chapter has finally been finished! Again, I am very sorry for the delay! Please enjoy! 

dillpops and dawnsama ~ Actually, neither of us has read "The Outsiders". Though we might look into it for some inspiration, lol. 

Onigiri Momoko ~ I'm guessing that at least one lady left the store with squished kiwis, hehe. ^_~ 

Avelyn Lauren ~ Actually, I (Gwydion) have seen the entire series at least twice, and the movie once. T4 hasn't though. But as far as that goes, no, Hitomi will not have any sort of mystic powers. Also, this chapter is for you since I made you wait so long. ^_^;; 

MT ~ I'll gladly kick your school in the butt if you want me to. ^_~ Actually, "Mr. Moleman" owns a pizza shop, not a bakery, lol. T4 read that comment and thought I had changed it, and she was like "how much did you change in this story?" ^_^;; And yes, the baggers do have a "secret hiding place". It's a shame I never knew where it was... And yes, sadly everything in this story has happened to at least one of the two of us. Ahh, it's a sad world we live in... ::shakes head:: And just you wait, it gets worse. We haven't even gotten to "Meat Sale" days... Heh. Anyway, glad you enjoy our story so far! It certainly amuses us, lol. And I can't help but smile/laugh while reading your reviews. ^_^ 

To windsoffortune, Aya_chan, pogo the kosher penguin, dilly-samma's luver, Fuzzie, Night of the Raven, Chitiko, kcarrie, and Mini-Moonstar, thanx for reviewing! ^_^ And now, on to the fic! 

Disclaimer: Even after all this time, we have still not aquired Escaflowne or it's characters. So sad. 

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4 

**Chapter 4**

People seemed to appear from nowhere. It seemed that Dragon's warehouse was being overrun by intruders. 

'Oh gosh - that's the lighter guy in the distance. Hide, Hitomi, hide. Don't let him see you or else he'll know you lied.' She tried to make herself as small as possible, but he was heading into the alley, undoubtedly looking for Dragon. 

"...finally show their faces, do they?" she heard him mutter as he flicked his lighter on and off, "Well, if that's what old Whitey wants, that's what he'll get! I knew he'd been planning a rumble. It looks like he decided it was about time his gang got crushed. I'll take great pleasure in taking you down... personally." 

Hitomi held her breath as the lighter man muttered, standing directly in front of her. 'Please move,' she thought. 

Dilandau suddenly looked up and quickly stepped to the side. Dragon landed right where the other man had been, his switch blade out. The other gang leader pulled out his gun. Hitomi, still trying to hide, gasped slightly, but not enough to be heard. "It's nice that you have the guts to meet me in person, Whitey," Dilandau taunted. 

"I aim to please, Dilly," said Dragon with a smirk, adjusting the knife in his hand. 

"That's nice. I aim to kill," came the reply, a sinister grin appearing on his face as he snapped his lighter shut and clutched it in his hand. 

The hiding cashier bit her lip. If that gang leader ('What kind of a name is Dilly for a gang leader?') noticed her, she could be dead. Now she wished she were in the dumpster, but then again... 

"I see you're just itching to get started. In that case..." At that, Dragon lunged at his opponent. Dilandau calmly stepped out of the way as his opponant ran past him, narrowly missing his arm. Now, Dilandau's back was to Hitomi. She wasn't sure whether to be glad or scared that they didn't seem to notice her presence. 

Dragon straightened up and turned back to his foe. He lunged again, this time aiming for his midsection, keeping his head low. Dilandau smirked and stuck his foot out, tripping the other gang leader as he moved out of the way, and fired his gun. In one quick movement, Dragon rolled out of the way and sat crouched, unfortunately for Hitomi only a foot from her. It was at this point that Dilandau noticed her presence. With that realization, he mocked, "Hey, I see you got your girl hiding in the shadows." 

"What?" He quickly turned around and shoved the top box away. "What are you still doing here!? Are you a complete moron!?" 

"Hey!" she yelled back, standing up. "I'm not the one who made me sit here. I was minding my own business yet again, and now this!" She threw up her hands. "I'll just go home." 

"I don't think so, missy. Going with Whitey here has gotten you mixed up with the wrong crowd." Dilandau turned his gun on her and motioned for her to return to her court-side seat. 

"You are such an idiot," Dragon muttered as he ran his free hand through his hair. "If you had only listened to me..." Sighing heavily, he turned back to his opponant and readied his knife. 

Hitomi sat back down on the cold pavement, muttering, "Well, at least I don't need a haircut..." 

Calming down, Dragon suddenly ran at Dilandau, aiming for his gun hand. Not quite fast enough at dodging this time, Dragon managed to get the gun loose from the other man, but with his lighter hand, Dilandau was able to get in a good blow to Dragon's chin, splitting his lip. Meanwhile, the gun slid along the pavement to Hitomi's feet. She picked it up. 

"Not feeling as confident now, are we Dilly?" he said, wiping some of the blood off of his lip, as the other man glared at Hitomi who now held his gun. "Care to finish this?" 

Now weaponless, Dilandau's eyes narrowed as he calmly waited for Dragon to make the first move. He didn't have to wait long as the other came at him. With a cry of rage, the unarmed man threw a punch, Dragon ducking just in time and coming up behind his opponent. Dilandau, realizing what had happened, quickly turned, but as he did, his foe slashed at his face leaving a long cut on his cheek. Stunned, Dilandau grabbed his face. Using the opportunity, Dragon drew back his fist and punched the other man square in the nose, causing him to fall back against the wall, knocking him unconscious. 

Hitomi sat there breathing somewhat quickly with the gun still in her hand. She looked at it. She then looked at Dragon who was attempting to assess the damage done to his lip. The gash from his opponant's punch was bleeding, but not as bad as before. Hitomi stood. 

The gang leader glared at her. "Why the heck didn't you hide like I told you to? I suggest you get out of here. Now. Unless of course you want more trouble." 

She looked him in the eye, and then she turned and headed to the door of her apartment. 

"Hey!" 

She turned and looked at him, silently. 

He took a step forward and held out his hand. "I suggest you give me that gun first." 

Feeling the cold metal in her hand, she replied calmly. "I don't think so." 

"And why is that?" 

She became a little defensive. "Why would I ever give something like this to you? I don't trust you at all." 

"Hey, who was it that told you to go and hide? I could've just let you get in the way, which probably would have resulted in a little more than you being stuffed in a dumpster. It's not my fault you didn't listen to me, wench!" he yelled, getting quite fed up with her. 

She rolled her eyes and continued to her apartment. 

"Hey! Get back here!" At that, Dragon ran up to her. "I said, 'give me that gun'!" 

Her eyes turned cold. "You know what? I didn't ask for any of this. You need to leave me alone. Got it?" As she warned him, she poked him with the tip of the gun for emphasis. 

His eyes narrowed. "You'll regret this." With that, he ran back to Dilandau, who was still lying on the ground. 

"Whatever..." she mumbled as she continued inside, concealing the gun in her work smock. 

Bending down, Dragon heaved the unconcious gang leader onto his shoulder. He made his way as quickly as possible back to his warehouse. This would make the whole night worth while. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where were you? What happened outside? Are you okay?" Momaru asked as his sister walked into the room. 

"I'm okay, for now. Momaru, don't ever leave our apartment unless it's daylight and there are lots of people around. I don't know how, but we've gotten ourselves mixed up in something bad." She sighed. Her brother came over and hugged her, but during the hug, he felt something hard against his sister's side. 

"What is that?" 

"N-nothing." She looked away, unable to look him in the eyes. 

He opened her smock and saw the gun. "What are you doing, sis?" He was scared. 

"It's okay. I'm going to turn it in tomorrow to the police. It'll be okay." She put the gun on the table and held her brother close, then kissed him on the forehead. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, wake up, you piece of trash!" Dragon kicked his captive, who was currently tied quite securely to the same chair Momaru had been in earlier. The rest of his gang, most of whom were battered and bloody, stood and watched. They were going to enjoy this. 

"How'd you do it, boss? How'd you knock the leader of the Slayers unconscious like this?" one overly eager gang member asked. 

Their leader shrugged. "It was easy. He didn't stand a chance against the likes of me," he boasted. 

Many of the gang people mumbled in approvement. With a smirk, their leader kicked the man again. "I said, wake up!" 

Dilandau looked up slowly, squinting at the light from the lone bulb hanging bare from the ceiling. 

"Finally." 

The captured gang leader looked around the room. So he'd been caught. How pathetic. "Where'd Miss Dragon go, huh?" was his attempt at mocking. 

"'Miss Dragon'?" whispered a gang member. The one next to him who was sporting a black eye shrugged. 

"I'm afraid you don't fully understand your situation," Dragon said a little louder than necessary, trying to get off of that particular subject, "In case you hadn't noticed, you are not the one in charge here, so we will be the ones asking the questions, not you. Got it?" He cracked his knuckles. 

Dilandau glared up at his rival, but said nothing. 

"All right. Now, we're going to discuss territory. I want you and your gang to clear out of 22nd Street and fast. It's a little too close to our base of operations. Understood?" he said. Realizing he would not recieve a reply, he added, "And you must stay on the other side of 30th Street, got it? I don't want to see a single one of your lackeys any nearer. If I do, well, you just may not ever see them again. You're lucky I don't just kill you now." He flashed him a cruel smile and crossed his arms over his chest. Dilandau followed this with a colorful string of curses muttered under his breath as he struggled against his bonds. 

"Good," replied Dragon, "I also want you to disband any of your men that came out if this with a black eye or less. Can't have your stronger men left. Ol' Chid over there isn't looking to healthy at the moment," he jerked his head towards a young man who was sporting two black eyes, a broken arm, and a number of cuts and bruises, "and I'm afraid I just won't tolerate that." 

"Anything you say," Dillandau said sarcastically, knowing that there was no way on earth he'd ever do that. 

"Oh, and I'll be personally checking up on you, just to make sure. Of course, you won't know when or where I'll be, but you can be sure that if I catch you disobeying these rules I have set up, my men and I will pay you a special visit. Now," Dragon turned to his gang, "what should we do next with our 'guest'? Any suggestions?" 

A man from the back said, "Oo, let's dress him up as a woman!" A roar of approval rose from the rest of them. 

Dragon turned back to the tied up man and smirked. "I guess that settles it, then. Now, let's get to work, shall we?" His grin widened as he waved his hand. The man that had spoken immediately ran to find the necessary equipment. 

When the man returned a few minutes later with make-up and a dress, the whole gang cheered. 

"Strip him," the leader ordered, as he grabbed his arms and dragged him to his feet. 

Without cutting him loose, they took his clothes off by tearing them off of him, to be sure he couldn't change until he got back to his own base. Then, after restraining their struggling captive, they put the halter top and mini skirt on him. Dragon grinned. 

"Now, somone hand me the make-up. I want to do this personally." He grabbed the lipstick that was passed to him (bright red in color) and opened it. After the lipstick had been messily applied due to the squirming of the mini skirted man, Dragon proceeded to add blush, mascara, and bright blue eye shadow. "Can't have anyone seeing such an ugly scar on a 'lady', now can we?" he mocked as he finished with the blush which now covered the wound he had received earlier that evening. 

As a final touch, Chid eagerly handed him a blonde wig. Upon placing it on his head, he stepped back to observe his work. One of the gang members mockingly whistled as the place was filled with laughter. 

"So _sweetness_," mocked their leader, "I hope you've learned something from all this. Now, I suggest you walk _very slowly_ back to your headquarters. And don't try to rub your eyes. You'll smear your make-up." 

The gang cut the rope tying his feet together, but left the one on his hands. One didn't need hands free to walk home. With that, they led him to the door. With mock cat calls, they sent him on his way. Dilandau carefully strode down the street, trying to keep his short skirt from riding up too much. He couldn't believe the humiliation. He swore to himself that they would pay. 

"I'll get you, White Dragon. Just you wait. Dragons are my Slayers specialty. And next time _we'll_ strike, only it will be a much more vulnerable area..." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Friday. Hitomi, after work at Mr. Moleman's pizza shop and on her way to the grocery store, stopped by the police station. She didn't want trouble. All she wanted to do was turn in the gun. The woman at the desk looked up. "May I help you?" she asked, noticing Hitomi. 

"Well, uh... I sure hope so." She felt the gun in her purse. "I have something I found that I'd like to turn in to the police." She bit her lip, her green eyes revealing her worry. 

"Well, what is it? We're very busy, you know," said the woman impatiently. 

Hitomi stuck her hand into her purse and pulled out the gun, making sure it didn't face toward anyone and set it on the counter. 

The woman glanced at the gun and then back at the girl. "Where did you get this?" 

"Like I said, I sorta found it in an alley way by my apartment." Hitomi looked too naive and well-behaved to be messed up with guns. The lady did not understand. 

"Really?" said the lady, obviously incredulous. "Well, you need to fill out some forms. The police will want to question you further about this. When you are done filling the papers out, I suggest you take a seat over there and wait for someone to come and get you." The woman opened a drawer and pulled out the needed forms and handed them to Hitomi. 

"Ma'am, I didn't know that this would take so long. I have to be at work in 20 minutes, and it's about a 10 minute walk from here," the cashier explained, taking the paperwork. "Can I bring this back tomorrow maybe?" 

"I'm sorry, you should have thought of that sooner. You must wait here. We wouldn't want something to happen to you in the meantime so that we couldn't get ahold of you," she said in mock concern. 

Hitomi furrowed her eyebrows. This stunk. Why was her life so complicated? She sat down and filled out the form. Mainly, it just asked for her name, address, and what she had brought in and where it was found. A few minutes later, a policeman with a doughnut in his hand walked up to her. 

"Are you the one that brought in the gun?" he said, his mouth full. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Come with me." He walked into a room in the back, waving her to follow. 

She followed. He motioned for her to take a seat, so she did. "Sir, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have to be at work in like 10 minutes now, and I have to walk. I'm already going to be late," she said, hoping he'd hurry. 

"Look, this is serious. I'll be sure to have a talk with your manager. Where do you work?" he asked, eating the last of his doughnut. 

"The grocery store on 36th street." 

"Oh, well that's perfect. I have to pick up something from there anyway," he said, tossing out his empty doughnut box. "Now, let's get on with this. Where exactly did you get this gun?" 

"It was on the ground in the alley between the warehouse and my apartment building," she explained. She was already too far into this mess. She didn't want to give anything away that would be reason for her to be in trouble with White Dragon or anyone else, for that matter. 

"And where is that?" 

"20th street. I live in the Miami Apartments." 

"Ok," he said, taking notes. "Do you realize that it's been rumored that gangs like to hang out in that area?" 

"Yes, I have heard that." She added in thoughts, "And I've seen it too and been pulled in as a part..." 

"Have you witnessed any strange activity lately?" 

"I heard a gun shot in the alley last night," she said honestly. Her eyes had been closed, so, it wasn't a total lie. This was horrible. She hated lying and hiding the truth really was lying, in its own fashion. 

"I see." He scribbled down some more notes. "And where were you when you heard this shot?" 

"The alley," she whispered, not wanting to answer. 

"Really? What direction did the shot come from?" 

"Sorta in front of me." Why had she done this? She shoulda just given the gun to Dragon... 

"In front of you? Then did you see anyone? If you heard a shot and then found this gun, there must have been someone there." The policeman stared her in the eyes, waiting for an answer. 

"There were lots of people," she replied honestly. "But, I had my eyes closed..." 

"So you're saying you have no idea what these people look like?" 

She looked up at him. "I can't say anymore. I've already said too much." She scooted her chair back. "I better go." 

"Hold it right there!" he almost shouted. "You're hiding something. You know more than you're letting on. I'm afraid I can't let you go until you answer all of my questions _truthfully_." 

"Don't I get a lawyer or something? I don't have to answer any of your questions. I've said all I want to say, thank you." She stood. 

"Hey! I'm not through with you yet!" 

"I don't have to tell you anything. I know my rights. Now, are you going to drop me off at work or shall I start walking?" she asked with finality. 

"Look, if you're being threatened, we can protect you from whoever it is. I'll ask you once more, where did you find this gun and who did you see in the alley?" 

"I've answered you already." She was adamant that she say no more. 

"Fine." He walked past her and out of the station, holding the door for her. "I promised you a ride, so if you want one, you'd better get out here quick." 

She silently scurried after him. He walked up to his police car and opened up the passenger door for her. She got in, the policeman shutting the door behind her. He walked over to the driver's side, got in, and turned on the car. In a few minutes, they'd arrived at the grocery store. 

Since the doors were locked, the policeman opened her door for her. Hitomi hurried in, but the policeman kept pace. One last time, he questioned, "Are you sure you have nothing else to tell me?" 

"I'm sure. Thank you for your time anyhow." She hurried over and clocked in only 5 minutes late. Getting her till, she looked around and noticed Van. The policeman was still sorta hanging around her, perhaps with some hope that she'd say something incriminating. 

For a second, the bagger's eyes widened. He stopped what he was doing (listening to the other bagger's talk as the cashiers cast them nasty looks) and stared at her. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he frowned. 'So, she ratted on me, did she?' he thought. Hitomi saw the bagger's look at her, and she looked away from him. She wanted to be done with him. 

His eyes rarely left her all that day, except of course when he saw a woman with a head that seemed much too small for her body. That was creepy looking. But as soon as 'shrunken head lady' left, he returned to his glaring. 

The entire day, Hitomi felt the eyes burning into her head. Finally, her break came. She decided to go sit in the small deli area of the store. All she wanted was time to herself, time to think, time to rest. 

Unfortunately, she didn't get it. 

to be continued... 

A/N: Ooo... Who could it be? What was going to happen now? I'm just on the edge of my seat here! The shrunken head lady - wow! Classic grocery store moments. Lemme tell you all, keep reading - exciting things are in store for you. - This from the other author (if you can call us authors...) 

(Gwydo's 2 cents) Oh man... Converting Big G into Dilandau is hard. T4 hasn't read what I did to that character yet... I doubt she'll even recognize him. o_O But no one else fit... And of course I can't make my Dilly be a stupid fool. Ahhhh, anyway, the next chapter won't take two months, I promise! In fact, it's already written! It just needs to be edited. So check back in, oh, a week or so (it shouldn't take that long, but I've been busy lately). Thanx for being patient and let us know what you think! ^_~ 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ok, it has been a week. Thought maybe I could get it out sooner, but some crazy stuff came up. Hey, at least it wasn't 2 months! ^_^;; 

T4 ~ Hey! You half wrote it! Why are you reviewing!? lol Anyway, it is sad that people can't read the original. And, btw, you forgot to send me your author's note for this chapter! 

Avelyn Lauren ~ AHH! A fellow grocery store worker! Cashier? Bagger? Pharmacy? Other? And I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Ahh, and it's only been one week since the last chapter. I'm getting better at posting, lol. Though the next one may take a bit... ^_^;; I'll try to keep up my end (T4 is so on top of things!). 

honeypot ~ We're glad that you like it so much! T4 and I thank you for the compliment on our writing. ^_^ 

windsoffortune ~ Haha, yeah the whole Celena thing made the whole "being dressed as a girl" part fit so well in the Escaflowne version of OGAG, though it wasn't as funny. T4 insisted on us dressing him up as a girl as punishment, and she's never even seen Escaflowne. And yeah, Hitomi's a little goody-goody. Can't lie for the life of her. ^_^;; Hope you enjoy this chapter! 

Onigiri Momoko ~ _Are_ main characters usually alright? ^_~ We'll have to wait and see.... mwahahaha... 

dawnsama ~ Haha, I can see where you get West Side Story from. Perhaps Hitomi should start jumping around singing "I feel pretty!" ^_~ And I agree!! Poor Dilly! But he fit the part, and thus has to live with our decision to make him the opposing gang leader. 

Malta2ndengine ~ And you thought tha last stopping place was bad. ^_~ 

And to dillpops, snow blossoms, DillyChic16, Princess Neptune, Sakura-Angel-04, dilly-sammas luver, Fuzzie, and The Lady In Black 07, thanks for reviewing! It keeps me motivated to write. ^_^;; And now, on to the fic! 

Disclaimer: Do we own Escaflowne? I think you all know the answer to that. 

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4 

**Chapter 5**

As soon as Hitomi was seated, Van walked over to her, deciding to take an on the clock break. He sat down directly in front of her. "What were you doing with that policeman?" he demanded quietly. 

"We're dating," she answered sarcastically. 

"Don't joke with me." 

"Don't talk to me." 

"Answer my questions, and I'll leave you alone. Now, what did you tell him?" he said coldly. 

"Leave me alone, huh? You haven't left me alone once!" Her voice began to raise, and people started to look their direction. She lowered her voice. "Leave me alone." Under her once pretty green eyes were now large, black circles. Lack of sleep and worry had made them quite pronounced. 

His eyes narrowed. "I suggest you talk. Now." 

She was annoyed. "Well, lemme tell you a story, then, 'kay? There was once a time when I could live in peace. Thanks to you, though - " 

"Will you shut up?!" he yelled. He lowered his voice as he continued, (yes, people were definitely staring by now) "Fine. Don't tell me what I want to know. You'll be the one regretting it, wench." With that, he stood and stormed off. 

"At least I can come up with better insults..." she mumbled to herself as she put her head on the table. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday was uneventful - fortunately. Hitomi worked a 9 hour day, and Van wasn't even there - much to her happiness. 

Sunday, Hitomi and her brother got up at 8:30 in order to attend church. She put on her nicest dress. It was truly a very fashionable, lace sundress. She took it out of the suitcase that was under the lone bed in their dingy apartment. Her brother had a black suit. It looked sharp on him except for the fact that he had slightly outgrown it. The pants were an inch or two too short as were the sleeves. Nonetheless, if you didn't look too closely, he almost passed off as respectable. The same went for Hitomi as all she had for shoes were worn down loafers. 

Church was three blocks away, so around 9:40 they left for a leasiurely stroll to church. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That same Sunday afternoon, Dilandau held a meeting with his posse. 

"So, what are we gonna do, boss?" asked a man with a black eye from the last rumble. 

The scarred gang leader scowled. He stroked his cheek, deep in thought. He would get Dragon back. And it would be bad. Very, very bad. "Men," he began, "I know just the thing to make that skinny, no good creep beg for mercy." 

"Oh, what is it, boss?" cried one man excitedly, jumping up and down clapping his hands. 

Dilandau looked at the freak in the back, raising an eyebrow. He shook his head in disgust. It was so hard to find good help these days. "Migel! Chesta" he called, two of his men coming to attention as he did so, "I need you two to keep an eye on someone for me." 

"Anything you say, boss," replied Migel immediatly. 

Chesta asked, "Who?" 

"You all remember that girl we caught with Dragon, right? Well, seems she's not just any girl; she's _his_ girl. I need you to tail her, find out where she goes. We are going to be paying her a little visit very shortly." His eyes narrowed as a cruel grin spread across his face. 

"What are we going to do to her, boss?" Chesta asked with an eerie gleam in his eye. 

"_You_ will let _me_ know what she does. Then _I_ will deal with her when _I_ decide the time is right, got it?" Dilandau glared at his men, the click of his lighter echoing through the room. 

The two nodded. 

"Good. Now, go to the area near Dragon's warehouse. She has to live somewhere near there. Oh, and Migel, Chesta? Don't come back until you have the information I want." 

"Yes, boss!" 

As the gang leader watched his men leave, he slowly stroked the scar on his cheek, the grin never leaving his face. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early Monday morning, Hitomi left for Mr. Moleman's as usual. There was an odd car in the alleyway, but she didn't think too much about it. Really, what was so shifty about a '93 Buick LeSabre? Light blue, at that. But then again, there were two sort of shifty men sleeping in there. She hurried by without their waking. 

"Hello!" cried Mr. Moleman as she entered the store. 

"Hello, Mr. Moleman. How's business?" 

She finished out her day as usual by heading to the grocery store at 11. Once there, she noticed Van glaring daggers at her. Ignoring him, she picked up her till and walked to her register. The first few hours were the same as usual, but just before her first break, murmurs broke out amongst the baggers. 

"Hello, Miss Davis, would you like paper or plastic?" asked Hitomi's bagger a little too sweetly. 

"Oh, paper please," said the customer in a voice that seemed much to low to be a female's. 

Sort of surprised, Hitomi took a second glance at her customer. The "woman" had a rather manly wrinkled face underneath a large white wig. "She" wore a pale blue dress with matching nail polish on "her" large hands. Not to mention that "her" legs looked a little too big and hairy. 

Hitomi couldn't help but stare a little. As Miss Davis exited the grocery store, her bagger leaned toward her and whispered, "That was Miss Davis, one of our more colorful shoppers." Hitomi quickly left for her break and went to the back room to watch TV. A story on the news about a local rich kid's school intrigued her. She watched closely as the students in maroon blazers crossed the colorful autumn campus. As her fifteen minutes ended, she sighed and went back to her job. 

As she returned home that night, she noticed that the blue LeSabre was still parked in the alley. She shrugged and went on home. 

"Hey, Chesta!" Migel jabbed his partner in the ribs. Chesta awoke with a jolt. "I caught sight of her." 

"Where? Where'd she go!?" he asked as he frantically looked around. 

"Home, where else?" replied the other with a smirk. He pointed a gloved finger at Hitomi's run down apartment complex. "Now all we have to do is watch for her to come back out tomorrow, follow her all day, and then tell the boss what's up." 

"Yeah, but you have to make sure you're awake this time," commented Chesta darkly, "We must have missed her this morning when you were supposed to be on watch." 

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." 

The two men made themselves more comfortable, readying themselves for their mission tomorrow morning. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning was like the last - Hitomi got up, went to the pizza shop, and the car was still in the alley. But, this time, the inhabitants were awake and watching her. She made like she didn't notice and continued. They followed at a not too indiscrete distance. As she quickened her pace, the car sped up with her. The car did the same when she walked slowly. Yeah, she was sure - she was being followed. Now, why? And by whom? She was sorta worried, to be honest. But, she had to go to work, so she stopped at the pizza place and greeted Mr. Moleman as usual. The car parked across the street until, as suspected, she left for the grocery store around 11. 

"That chick must work here," said Migel. "This must have been where we saw her returning from last night." 

"Alright, let's head back to the boss and give him the skinny." At that, the blue Buick drove off. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around three when Hitomi was supposed to take her break. She had just turned her light off when one more person got in her line. "What was one more?" she thought, sort of annoyed, but not terribly so. The customer just before the late-comer left, and she greeted her last customer with a "Hello, how are you?" and a smile until she noticed the scar running down the man's face. 

"I'm doing quite well, thanks, but I think you could use a break. Whaddya say the two of us take a walk?" Dilandau grinned, hands in the pockets of his oversized trench coat. 

"Uh..." she looked around. No one seemed to notice something weird was going on. "I really gotta go over there..." She pointed at the side of the managers' customer service counter where the timeclock was. 

"Do you now?" Through the thin material of this pocket, the outline of a gun was most obvious. 

Hitomi nodded, hoping someone had noticed, and began walking in the direction the scarred freak motioned. He quickly led her to the back of the store, toward the storage area. Hitomi quietly went where she was directed. Why her? What did it always have to be her? Dilandau led her into one of the large refrigerator rooms. They were surrounded by a LOT of milk. 

"Now, I have some things I'd like to discuss with you regarding our mutual friend," he said with a smirk. 

She rolled her eyes and coldly informed, "He's no friend of mine, thank you." 

"Oh, isn't he?" 

"It's true," she defended. 

Dilandau's eyes narrowed as he pulled the gun out of his pocket. "Now, would you like to try that again?" 

"Try what again?" 

"Don't toy with me! I know you know what Dragon is planning!" he yelled. 

"No, really, I don't," she informed him calmly - well, as calmly as a person at gun point can answer an insane gunman. 

"Dilandau! What the heck are you doing here!?" Dragon, in his gang attire, burst into the refrigerator. Both Hitomi and Dilandau turned and looked at their "mutual friend". 

"Heh, come to save your woman, Whitey?" taunted the armed gang leader. 

"What?! I am no such thing, you thick-skulled moron," Hitomi mumbled as the sentence came to an end and crossed her arms. 

Dragon laughed. "You think I give a care about _her_? Always knew you were crazy, Dilly. What I want to know is why _you're_ here." 

"I'm just checking up on a certain someone who I know not only has the information I want, but can be used as quite the hostage" the other gang leader replied with a smirk, grabbing Hitomi around the neck and holding the gun up to her temple. Her eyes widened and she gasped. "Now that you're here, I think the hostage role is more appropriate, wouldn't you agree? I'll get all of my information from you, White Dragon." 

"Go ahead, shoot her. You realize, however, that by doing that the security would be alerted to your presence, and unless you plan on shooting your way through them, there wouldn't be much of an escape route for you. Though I'll admit that by killing her you'd be getting rid of a very annoying aspect of my life," he said with a shrug. 

"Yeah, but if you shoot him, you'd be getting rid of a very annoying aspect of both of our lives," she said snidely. 

Dilandau's face contorted with rage. This was not what he had expected, and he was getting rather furious. He didn't care who he had to shoot just as long as he got what he wanted, his revenge. Of course, the girl had a point. If he just shot Dragon here, he'd never have to worry about him ever again. It seemed that his plan had in fact worked after all. He began to move the gun away from Hitomi's head when a loud siren suddenly went off, indicating that a shipment of goods was ready to be unloaded. Startled, Dilandau looked around frantically, not realizing what was going on. 

Dragon took this moment to run at the rival gang leader. With Dilandau not paying attention, he had a chance of getting the gun away and using it himself. But as he drew closer to the other man, his opponent realized what was going on and turned his gun toward the approaching foe. With a loud bang, the gun fired, Dragon ducking behind some crates of chocolate milk to get out of harm's way. 

As Dilandau headed toward the crates of chocolate milk, Hitomi took a deep breath and elbowed her captor in the stomach. With a cry, he bent over slightly and loosened his grip on the cashier. Realizing it was now or never, she grabbed at the gun and was just barely able to yank it from the gang leader's hand. She promptly aimed it at him as he glared at her, his fists clenched. 

"Aw, great," muttered Dragon, looking out from his hiding place. He wasn't sure whether the gun was better off in Hitomi's hands or Dilandau's. 

Shaking the gun slightly for accent, Hitomi warned, "Don't move." 

"Right," mumbled Dragon. He not only knew that Hitomi didn't have the guts to shoot anyone, but also that Dilandau wouldn't let that stop him. He quickly took the opportunity to jump at his opponent. Dilandau looked up just in time to see his rival pull back his fist. He immediately ducked, Dragon's fist passing just over his head. The scarred man retaliated with a punch of his own, but Dragon was too fast. Dilandau turned around, ready to deliver another blow, but instead found his foe ready for him. 

Just as Dragon grabbed the other man's collar and punched him in the eye, a rather overweight security guard ran in, wheezing due to a lifetime of smoking. "Nobody move until the cops get here!" he screamed, his face flushed from running across the store. The three just looked at him as the sound of police sirens drew nearer. Before they had even a chance to react, they heard several steel-toed boots running in their direction. 

"Freeze! Don't anybody move!" shouted one of the policemen, a gun pointed at Hitomi. The girl immediately put both of her hands up, forgetting she still had the gun in one of them. "Put the gun down now!" he added, motioning his gun at the floor. 

"R-right," she answered as she slowly set the gun on the floor. 

'Crap,' thought Dragon, who was still holding Dilandau. He really did not need this right now. The last people he wanted to deal with were the police. If they realized that he was the head of a gang, he could be in a whole heap of trouble. Dilandau began to squirm. 

"Hey!" he shouted suddenly, "These two were trying to kill me!" 

"What?!" Hitomi cried. "That's such a lie!" Her eyes widened. 

"We'll see about that down at the station," the policeman sneered. At that, he motioned to his cohorts to cuff the dark-haired hooligan and the girl. They roughly pushed them into the the back of police car number 9 and transported them to the station. Dilandau was also taken for questioning; he however was treated like a first-class victim. 

to be continued... 

A/N: Ok, first off, I'd like to make an extra disclaimer: using things like the term "Whitey" and people like Miss Davis are not meant to be offensive. Well, "Whitey" is an insult to Dragon, but not a racial slur or anything. Also, we merely put down the real reactions of people towards Miss Davis. We're not trying to be discriminatory. Just felt I should add that. ^_^ Anyway, we hope you all enjoyed this chapter! 6 is in the works, but don't expect it by next week... Sorry!! I'll hurry, I promise! (No comments from you, T4, about that! :P) And make sure to praise T4 for her speediness. ^_^;; 


	6. Chapter 6

Ahh!! Sorry about this! Ok, only one person knew this, but I had planned on updating on Christmas Day. I got a little too busy, sadly. I don't really have a lot of time now either, but I wanted to get this posted! Although I think you'll all want to kill T4 and I... ^_^;; For that I apologize ahead. Flames are welcome for this chapter, lol. Also, I know it's a little short, but the next chapter is written, so with enough encouragement (or death threats) I may be able to get the next chapter edited and out by New Year's Day. Anyway, I know it's 2 days (and about 2 months...) later than it should have been, but please anjoy it anyway! On to the fic! 

Guess what all!!! We now own Escaflowne!!! We procured it last week!!! Isn't that cool?!?! 

Disclaimer: We are prone to wild hallucinations involving owning things that we indeed do not own. 

****

Of Gangs and Groceries  
Gwydion and T4 

****

Chapter 6 

Hitomi and Dragon were taken to separate rooms where they were questioned by the police. The policeman sat down across the table from Hitomi who was still handcuffed and in shock. The cuffs were chaffing her wrists. The policeman asked, "What exactly happened this afternoon?" 

She explained about Dilandau following her and taking her from her lane by force. Then, she explained how Dragon had shown up unexpectedly, about the siren, and about getting the gun. She sounded quite upset, like she was overplaying her story to cover her guilt. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Asked the same question as Hitomi, Dragon answered, "I was doing my grocery shopping when I saw that big guy leading the lady into the back, and I could tell something was wrong. So, I followed them, trying to help the girl." He paused a moment, then asked, trying to sound concerned, "Is she okay, by the way?" 

"Well," the policeman started, "Seeing as how she was carrying an unlicensed fire arm, not to mention pointing it at someone as if to kill. Take your guess." 

"Aw, that's too bad..." He tried to sound genuine. 

"You outta worry about yourself." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's like this," Dilandau started. "I was in the cereal aisle when the two of them came up behind me. The guy was carrying the gun and pointed it to my back. They led me back to the refrigerator. I've never been there, but the girl works there, so she knew her way around the place. When we got there, the guy handed the gun to the girl and then started punching me in the face." He made a punching motion then pointed to his eye - which was was now just about swollen shut. 

The policeman listened carefully, then asked, "Why did they want to hurt you?" 

"I'm not exactly sure, officer. Although a few days ago, I did see the girl, ya know - and she ain't so hard on the eyes, so I politely asked if she'd like to do something sometime. She didn't seem too dissatisfied with the proposition, either. Well, I guess the guy is pretty protective of his girl, one of those guys. I guess he wasn't too happy with me and decided to do something about it." 

"Hm. Thank you for your time, sir. If we have any more questions, please leave your number with the secretary." The policeman showed him out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing Hitomi and Dragon knew, they were placed in holding cells next to each other. There were only the two cells. No one stayed here long. They either were sent home or up the river. The two were left alone. Even though Hitomi had used the opportunity to call Momaru, she still worried about him. Who knew how long she'd be held? Not to mention the neighborhood was rather rough. Through her thoughts, she kept silent - she had nothing to say to that annoying, selfish, no good... 

"Well, it's a fine mess you've gotten us into," Dragon blamed. 

"Um, two things. There is no 'us'. And it's all your fault - don't you remember, Mr. '86 Camry," she informed with an attitude. 

"How can this be my fault? He was after you!" 

"Then, _you_ didn't have to show your ugly face," she huffed as she stood and walked to the wall of bars separating the two cells, hands on her hips. 

He opened his mouth to say something. Then, he shut it again. Then finally replied with, "Well, I couldn't have Dilandau findin' out that I work at a grocery store, now could I? I had to take care of him." 

"And how would he have found out, might I ask?" 

"He coulda seen me... wench." 

"Oh my word - doesn't it even seem fishier that you showed up there?" She paused as she turned away from the bars. With her back still to him, she added, "Oh - and don't call me that." 

Dragon leaned against the bars and shrugged. "You don't like it? Well that's too bad now, isn't it? Maybe you shoulda just told me your name right off. Too bad, wench." 

"Or you coulda just left me alone like a normal person would - apologized and let me live out my blessed life in peace!" 

"Now that would be no fun..." 

"And this is?!" 

Dragon shrugged again and sat down, leaning against the back wall. 

Hitomi sat down on the cot and was silent. A few minutes later, in a much calmer but very serious voice, she said, "You've got serious problems." 

Dragon smirked and ran a hand through his hair. "You don't know the half of it, lady." 

"Undoubtedly," she muttered. 

He glared at her. "Just shut your mouth, will ya? I'm sorry my life hasn't been as pleasant as yours, Miss Hitomi. But, not all of us grew up in a normal home, so if you don't like the way I live my life. Then, just stay out of it, okay?" 

"First off, I've been trying to stay out of it. But thanks to a you, that's been impossible. And second, don't even tell me about a pleasant life. Don't pretend to know me." Her voice was cold. What could she have been talking about? 

"Oh right, sorry. I mean, what do I know, anyway? Just because you happen to have a place to live with a job to support you doesn't mean anything. It could be worse, ya know. You could be living out on the street, digging through dumpsters, and we all know how much you _hate_ dumpsters," he replied, his red eyes narrow. 

She ran her hands through her short, light brown hair. "You have no idea what you are talking about, do you? Life is not exclusively about having food and shelter," she huffed. Adding in an audible mumble, she said, "Not that I have much of that these days..." 

"I see, so you're one of those that needs more than the simplest of things to live. You just won't be happy until you have a nice house and a husband to go to work for you so you can stay at home all day." 

She stood up from the cot, almost livid. "You couldn't be more wrong! You have no idea what I'm talking about. I don't need nice stuff - stuff doesn't make you happy. Trust me." She sighed and took a few steps closer to the bars. 

Dragon stood as well and walked over to the bars. He leaned against them and said, "Oh really? And how would you know, Miss 'My Life Is So Hard'?" 

She crossed her arms and looked at him. "How would I know that stuff doesn't make someone happy, you ask. Well, I used to have stuff - and lots of it, and I wasn't happy. Okay? That's how." Her green eyes narrowed, and then she looked away, heading for the back wall where she leaned. 

He studied her for a second before saying, "Well, who woulda thought that someone like you came from royalty? How'd you come to wander among us mere peasants, then? Did ya get bored or were you kicked out by an evil stepmother, Princess Hitomi?" 

He disgusted her. "My parents died," she said coldly. "Not that I cared." 

"Aren't we bitter? What made you hate them so much? Did -" 

He was cut off. "Because they hated me," she spat angrily. 

The gang leader raised an eyebrow. "Why? I'll admit you're annoying, but that's a little different." 

She rolled her eyes his direction. "I think it all began with my birth - well, before it, really. I interrupted their partying schedule. My parents were rich from inheritance. Neither had ever worked a day in their lives. All they did was travel around the world living it up at whatever cost. Yes, I was more than provided for - even though they never remembered my birthday or even my name sometimes. They procured me a nanny who didn't even speak English. She hated us because she was just in it for the money, really." She sighed. "So, yeah, after the big accident heretofor referred to as Hitomi, my father got his tubes tied. Let's just say that the mistake called Momaru came along anyway a few years later despite their precautions. I guess my father didn't take into account my mother fooling around with other men at those parties. Oddly, he didn't even seem to care." She walked forward and looked White Dragon in the eyes. "In all of my life, I only remember seeing my parents for a total of one hour when I was sick in the hospital with pneumonia for a week - and that's only cuz they were headed to a party for the children's hospital anyway," she concluded sadly. 

He shrugged. "At least you had it easy. But how did you end up here, anyway? I know your parents died, but that doesn't explain it very well." 

"When they died in the car accident which, I believe, was more a successful suicide attempt, it was found out that they had spent a million dollars that they didn't have. They were completely bankrupt. So, it fell on me - the heir - to repay it. Yeah, like I have that kind of money. Everything I had was taken, any money that I saved or jewelry. So, my brother and I left to find a new life. Well, that hasn't gone so well, now has it?" she asked, insinuating that Dragon's existance wasn't helping. 

"Hey, don't go blaming me!" he snapped. "Things were finally starting to go my way when you showed up and ruined everything. Had you not been here, Dilandau would not have shown up at my work, and I would _not_ be stuck in jail. Not to mention I haven't even done anything this time. If they figure out who I really am, though..." He glared at her. "If they even have a _clue_, you are so dead." 

She threw her hands up. "This is so not my fault - and you know it." She pointed at him. "This is all your doing. I have completely minded my own business!" 

He straightened up, fists at his side. "Look, I haven't had any problems with anyone else," he growled, "just you. Somehow you are constantly getting in my way. Why is it you can't seem to stay out of my way!?" He unconciously fingered the ring under his shirt. "Better learn how to and soon." 

"Have you ever thought that maybe - just maybe - _you_ get in _my_ way?" 

"I have lived on these streets my whole life! I practically own them! This is my territory, and you trespassed on it!" Dragon shouted as he angrily grabbed at the bars with his free hand, his other around the ring. 

She smirked annoyingly. "Oh, what are you saying? That such a big, strong person such as yourself can't just get around a nobody like little old me?" Her tone was dripping with sarcasm. 

"Trust me, I could get you out of my way permenantly if I wanted to. That, however, can get messy," he said with a smirk, regaining some of his composure. 

She humphed and glared at him. He still had his hand clutched around that ring. After a while of silent staring, she finally asked, "What's with the ring?" 

The gang leader glared at her for a moment longer before answering. "It was my mother's," he replied simply. 

"Where's she now?" 

"She's dead." 

"Oh." Hitomi crossed her arms and looked at Dragon. He had a faraway look in his eyes. "Sorry." 

He closed his eyes and smirked, pulling out the ring from under his shirt. He seemed to study it for a second as he said, "I don't need your sympathy. Especially since I was the one that killed her." 

to be continued... 

A/N: (T4) Golly gee willigers. Who knew he killed his mom? I just knew he was screwed up, but THIS screwed up?! Now, that's a shocker. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the story is... oh wait - I've written this story. I already know... nah nah!!! ::sticks out tongue and wiggles fingers in an antler position:: Sorry, y'all, my bad. Tell us in your review what you think the story is behind this. We love to hear your ideas! But we still would appreciate your other comments even if you don't have any ideas.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, so it's a few hours late. Ah well. Not too bad. Anyway, I felt like responding to some of our reviewers: 

Esca_lover ~ Fine! Don't review! :P Just don't touch my PRECIOUS!!! 

blonde-hitomi ~ VanxHitomi fluff? Um, well... ^_^;; I don't want to give away anything, but don't hold your breath...... Van IS a gang leader. But we'll just have to see, won't we? ^_~ 

pogo the kosher penguin ~ Hahaha, thanks for giving T4 and I the response we were looking for. ^_^ Read on to find out more about Van's past... 

dawnsama ~ Yay! Thanks for your thoughts and ideas! It's always fun to read what people think will happen. ^_^ We're glad you liked the jail scene (T4 - Yeah! She liked my line best!). And indeed, this chapter does contain Van's past, and don't worry, I wouldn't leave Folken out of it (though that could be a bad thing...). ^_~ 

Avelyn Lauren ~ Wahoo! More ideas about Van and his mother! And we don't care when the feedback comes in; we're just happy it does. ^_^ we're glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing! 

And to gothickchick45, hh, princess neptune, and Onigiri Momoko, thank you for reviewing! We love knowing that people actually read OGAG. ^_^ 

Disclaimer: Ditto what every other chapter says. 

****

Of Gangs and Groceries  
Gwydion and T4 

****

Chapter 7 

"Wh-what? You what?" Hitomi's arms fell at her side as her brow furrowed in confusion. 

"Hey, it's not like I was trying to kill her. Believe me, if I could take it back, I would. But we aren't given that chance, now, are we?" 

She shook her head. Quietly, she asked, "How'd it happen?" 

Dragon glanced at her. "When I was growing up, it was just my mom, my brother, and I. My father took off right after I was born. My mother tried to support us as best she could, but as soon as we were old enough, we were sent out to find odd jobs just so we could earn a few extra bucks. Folken, my brother, was doing alright, but I managed to get myself caught up in the local gang. We hit a lot of stores, though, so I was always able to bring home my share of 'income' each day. One night, we hit the rival gang's hideout, wiping out their stash of money. I happened to deal out the most damage that night. So much, in fact, that my fellow members thought quite highly of me from then on." He smirked. "It's too bad that the other gang knew it, too. 

"My gang was just hanging out the next night, still celebrating over our victory, when one of them ran into the room. They said that they happened to notice something going on near the other gang's hideout, a fight or something. We wanted to get in on it so we all ran over. But, by that time, it was already over. There was only one person still there." Dragon paused before continuing. "It was Folken. Somehow they knew that he was my brother and decided that beating on him would be the best way of getting back at me. He had probably just been walking home from whatever odd job he'd been doing and had no idea that he was passing right past a bunch of gang members mad at his little brother. I remember running up to him, panicked. Of course, by then, it was too late. He must have tried to fight back, causing the other gang to decide it would just be better to finish him off. Do you have any idea how bloody a dead body can get?" he asked with a wry smile. 

"When I told my mom about Folken, she was devestated. I never told her exactly what happened, though. If she ever found out I was in a gang, well, let's just say she didn't need to deal with that too. I was furious. And I was not about to let them get away with what they had done. The very next night we were prepared to strike and hard. We used the money we had stolen to buy some guns and knives, intent on wiping out the entire gang. It ended up being a pretty fierce battle because they were now on their guard, waiting for us. As I was fighting, I remember seeing someone out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned, firing my gun at the shadowed figure." The gang leader grasped the ring tightly. "I went to make sure I had really hit the person only to find out that I had shot my own mother. She'd come to see the place where Folken had been murdered. I guess that she must have heard the gun shots and was probably just trying to leave when I shot her. She was still alive, but just barely. All she did was stare at me, too shocked to say anything. And I just stood their like an idiot and watched her die. When I at last came back to my senses, I had now not only lost my brother, but I had killed my mother. All in a matter of two days. 

"After that, all I had left was the gang. Or what was left of it, at least. Because of what had happened, I forced everyone to get rid of the guns in any way they could. I didn't want to have to repeat that experience again. I was promoted to leader too. Balgus, our old one, was one of the casualties. And now the gang is my home. I took a job at the grocery store, though, so I could earn some extra cash to use on myself. Or so I tell myself. It probably has more to do with the fact that that's what my mom had really wanted me to do in the first place, get a real job." Dragon closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He then walked back over to the wall, leaning against it once more. 

Throughout the entire story, Hitomi remained leaning on the back wall, listening intently. She blew a few stray hairs out of her eyes. She looked at him in the same pose across the room. He looked, well, she didn't know how to say it, but the best word she could think of was "smaller." He looked smaller. Finally, she quietly ventured, "Why did you stay in the gang if it caused so much - " 

She was cut off by the creaking of the opening door and voices following the heavy footsteps. Both Hitomi and Dragon's heads turned to see the policeman followed by an handsome blonde boy in a marroon blazer. "Hitomi!" the blonde shouted, clutching the bars that closed her in the cage-like room. 

"Allen?!" Hitomi straightened and took a step toward the bars, and then she froze. "What are you doing here? How'd you know?" 

"Momaru called me, and I came as quickly as possible. Oh, Hitomi, we were so worried about you when you just disappeared. We could have helped you if you had only told us you were in trouble. Why didn't you come to us? Oh, and why that night? I had so been looking forward to - " 

Hitomi cut Allen off just as her eyes unnoticeably glanced to Dragon and back to focus on Allen. "I'm fine. I can handle this myself," she stated coldly with finality. "Is Momaru okay?" she asked with concern. 

"Oh yes, he's fine. He's just upstairs in the waiting room with Yukari. Oh, we have to get you out of here." He turned to the policeman in a very lawyer-ish voice stated, "You have nothing incriminating on this girl here, no evidence that she has done anything outside of the law. Therefore, I demand that you free her at once. You've held her here for too long for mere questioning." Allen, son of a prominent lawyer, knew that people could be held for questioning for only a few hours before they had to be released or officially arrested and held for trial. 

The policeman, realizing that the boy was correct, began to unlock the gate-like door. He opened the door and let Hitomi out. "There you go, miss. I'd recommend staying far away from trouble. We have your address, and we'll be keeping an eye on you." The policeman slammed the cell door, and the bars shook. Hitomi's head was still spinning, surprised at the release and Allen's presence. 

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Dragon questioned from the other side of the room. 

Everyone turned to look at him. "Who's that?" Allen asked as if he smelled something fishy, and he took a step closer to Hitomi as if to protect her from the caged man. 

The gang leader smirked. "The name's Van, and I happened to save that wench of yours, Johnny Cochran wanna-be." 

Hitomi, rolled her eyes as Allen got terribly defensive. "Excuse me?" he asked menacingly, stepping between his friend and the gang leader. Thinking again, Allen nonchalantly brushed a hand toward Van and turned to his female friend, "He's not worth our time." He put his arm around her waist and led her through the door. She looked back at Dragon with a blank look as she allowed herself to be led. 

The policeman shrugged and went over to Dragon's cell to let him out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Momaru!" Hitomi hugged her younger brother. "You're okay, right?" He nodded. 

"Oh, Hitomi!" Yukari exclaimed from behind Momaru. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried when Allen called to tell me what your brother has said over the phone. We hadn't heard from you in so long..." Her blubbering was cut off by a long, almost painfully strong hug given to Hitomi. 

"I'm fine," she assured, pushing her friend away, catching her breath. 

"That's good to know, but it would have been nice if you had called us," said Allen, "One day you were fine, and the next you were gone! We had no idea what had happened to you, and when we never heard from you, we started to fear the worst." 

She smiled weakly, "Well, you shouldn't have. Momaru and I have been doing fine," she assured. 

"But sis, what about that gang - ?" 

"Really, we've been fine," she stated, trying to shut her brother up. Yes, he was right - they had been far from fine for a while, but these two wouldn't understand. They were good friends, that was true enough, but their lives, their experiences were far from lending them the life lessons to understand her situation. 

"A gang!?" Allen nearly shouted. Heads turned to look at him, but he didn't seem to notice or care. "Was that what happened at the store? Were they bothering you? Who are these people?" 

Totally self-conscious, Hitomi headed to the exit, guiding her brother out. She saw Allen's silver BMW in the parking lot but headed to the sidewalk. Allen and Yukari ran to catch them. Yukari put a reassuring hand on Hitomi's shoulder, "Really, we want to help you. You're our friend, and we're worried about you." 

Hitomi stopped and looked Yukari in the eyes. "I'm fine. Really." She hoped they would believe her. 

"We talked it over before we got here," Yukari said, nudging Allen in the side. 

"Yes," he continued, "I want you and your brother to stay at my house until we get all this worked out. You'll be safe there and well cared for." 

Hitomi was shocked. "I can care for us just fine. We don't need your help." 

Momaru looked at his sister. "Hitomi," he bit his lip. "I'm scared." 

She looked into his brown eyes and furrowed her brow. She looked back at her friends, resolute. "I can't just up at leave my jobs. They're counting on me being there, but I would be very much appreciative if you would watch Momaru for me until I can get this figured out better." 

"Look, you know I'll gladly watch Momaru for you, but the two of us would feel much better if you'd come too. We can call your work and ask for time off. I'm sure they wouldn't mind at all. This is serious." Allen looked at her with a pleading expression. 

"No, I can't. Mr. Moleman can't find someone on such short notice. I can't let him down." She didn't want to talk about her other job. She turned Momaru to look at her. "I'll come to get you soon. Don't worry about me - I'll be fine." She winked at him. "Thanks," she said to her friends and started walking down the sidewalk. 

"Wait!" Yukari called. Hitomi turned. "Gimme your cell phone," Yukari hissed at Allen. He took it out. "Take this - just in case. Our house numbers are on the speed dial." She threw it to Hitomi who caught it and put it in her smock pocket. 

"Thanks," she mumbled, smiling slightly. They were being such good friends. What was wrong with her? Shouldn't she have accepted their help? She didn't look back as she continued down the sidewalk. 

In a few minutes, the BMW slowed down next to her. "Can't we give you a ride?" 

She shook her head. "But thanks." She waved as they pulled away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dragon briskly walked down the street. When the police had picked him up, they had apparently decided it best to leave his car there. Now he had to walk back to the grocery store just to pick it up. He hoped that no one from the Slayers was keeping tabs on him. If they saw him, he could be in trouble. He glanced around just in time to see a silver BMW speed by, the Johnny Cochran wanna be in the driver's seat. He frowned. Rich kids had always been the most annoying people, acting like they owned the world or something. He made a mental note to find out just where he lived so that his gang could pay him a visit. 

He at last made it to the store. Walking to his car, he planned on just speeding back to the warehouse, until he realized that his work clothes were still in the store. He groaned and ran his hands through his hair. He really hoped that no one recognized him, either as Van the bagger or White Dragon the gang leader. At last he put on his sunglasses and left his jacket in the car, hoping to get away from his tough guy look as best as he could. He then walked into the store, heading straight for the break room where he left his clothes. He managed to make it there without trouble. However, upon opening the door, he realized that his luck had run out. 

"Hey, who are - " Gaddes asked, noticing the lack of uniform. He paused. "Van? Dude, what's with the sunglasses? And I didn't know your hair was that long. Man, the boss would have a fit if he knew!" he said with a grin. 

"I'm just here to pick up something," Van mumbled as he walked over to his bag. 

"Hey! Did you hear about what happened earlier?" asked Gaddes "Apparently some guy came into the store and took Hitomi, ya know, the cashier, to the back. She just left! Shut her light off and everything. Man, and the cashiers complain about us disappearing. So anyway, some old man eventually found her in the refrigerator with not one guy but two! I never thought she was like that, more of a goody goody, ya know? And, get this, she was taken to the police station for using a gun! Man, I was sorry I missed it, but the other baggers told me all about it." 

Van rolled his eyes. "Yeah, too bad. The one exciting thing in this place, and I missed it." He walked toward the break room door, his bag in his hand. Turning, he grinned at his fellow bagger before leaving, adding, "But at least we now know what she's _really_ like. It always makes things easier on us." 

to be continued... 

A/N: Dun dun dun... So there you have it. Van's life story and the introduction of Allen. Aw, come on, you knew he was coming. But he knows Hitomi? Hmm, interesting, ne? ^_~ Sounds like things could be even worse for Hitomi than before, but, hey, anything can happen... Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Oh, and the next one will not be out as quickly. Since I have no idea when that will be, if you would like me to email you when I post again, just say so in your review and be sure to leave your email. I know you could just check the Author Alert box, but not everyone has an account. Besides, I saw other people offering this option and people seemed to like it so there ya go. I'll shut up now...


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: ...hello? ^_^;; Sorry all for the late update... Not sure anyone is still around to read this, but that's ok. To anyone that's still waiting, I apologize for the tardiness of this chapter! Well, I shall get on to "Gwydion's Review Replies" so that you can get on with the fic! 

dawnsama ~ Ahh indeed, we did kill Folken. Well, in answer to your question about who writes what, I write for Van and T4 writes for Hitomi (and every other character is whoever works out best for that time ^_^;;). So, actually, I killed Folken... Sorry about that! Ahh, and we are not Allen bashers, but some may slip in accidently. Just keep in mind that T4 has no idea who Allen is and just thinks of him as "Lance" (his name in the original version). So if he gets bashed, it's nothing personal, lol. 

Onigiri Momoko ~ Haha, thanks for the comments! And sorry about Folken... I felt bad killing him off, and I knew people would not be happy aobut that, but it had to happen (at least in my twisted mind it did...). Glad you enjoy our fic! 

Kia Minokoe ~ Wow, glad you like the fic so much! I hope that this slower chapter doesn't change your opinion. ^_^;; 

blonde-hitomi ~ Hahaha, that would be funny, though, wouldn't it? I can just see gangster Van running up to Hitomi with a huge grin and flowers. ^_^;;;;; But as far as love interest goes... Even that info I cannot release as of now. Why? Because even T4 and I are deciding what the future holds! But fear not for we are hard at work on a good ending that will not leave anyone wanting to kill us in horrible ways. ^_^;; 

Princess Neptune ~ Ahhh, I'm afraid this took too long to come out for you to still be hooked... Sorry! I hope you enjoy it, anyway! 

And to Fuzzie, dilly-sammas luver, mily s, Sakura onto Hitomi, gothickchick45, and physco_slayer, thank you for reviewing! We really appriciate it! And finally.... 

Disclaimer: Ditto... 

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4

**Chapter 8**

The next day, Hitomi showed up early to the grocery store. She wanted to make sure that she still had a job there - to put it bluntly. After profusely apologizing to the manager who allowed her one more chance, she waited near the time clock. She was seven minutes too early to clock in. 

"Hey there," greeted Dryden, another bagger, being a little too friendly, with a disturbing wink. 

"Hi," she replied shortly. 

"So, uh..., when's your first break?" He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. 

"I dunno..." She did know. He creeped her out. 

"I was just wondering if you, uh, maybe wanted to meet me somewhere. Say, perhaps, the refrigerator?" 

He was mocking her? Was this some disgusting bagger's idea of a joke? Her face grew cold as she took a step back. Suddenly, her pocket began to vibrate. She took the cell phone out of her pocket. "Yes?" she asked, ignoring Dryden as he was instructed by a manager to start bagging again. 

"Why didn't you answer my voice mails all morning?" It was Allen. He sounded concerned. 

"I was working." 

"But, you've been off work for almost two hours now. I thought that -" 

"I'm fine. I have two jobs, you know. I'll call after work, but I have to clock in now. I'm going to turn the phone off. Bye." 

"Wait!" 

"Yes?" 

"Be careful, okay?" There was more he wanted to say, but that's all she would listen to. 

"I will." With that, she turned the phone off, put it in her pocket, and swiped in. 

As she got her till, the office worker reminded her that tomorrow was "meat sale" with an annoying glimmer in her eye. Yes, the dreaded meat sale days (two, exactly) were tomorrow and the next day. In these less than blissful days, lots of meat - chicken, fish, beef, pork, including the gross pork loins, were on super super sale. The grocery store would be a mad house with people pushing others and grabbing meat. It was horrible. Hitomi had only heard rumors, but she was certainly not looking foward to it. To make matters worse, meat sales were themed - meaning, all workers were to wear luau clothing (whatever that was). Marlene, a veteran cashier who had weathered more than her fair share of luau days, had promised Hitomi that she'd bring an extra lei and straw hat for her when she mentioned that she didn't own luau clothing. 

With a not so good start to her work day, thanks to that creepy Dryden, she counted her till and opened her lane. It was freaky: the baggers were being eerily nice to her - all of them, well, mostly. She always had a bagger, and occasionally when her bagger had to make an exchange in the back, she'd get another. Yes, it was alarming. 

Finally, her first break came along. As she made her way to the break room, she noticed it was simply pouring outside. She was thankful that she wasn't a bagger on carts. In the break room, she was alone - thank goodness - so she turned on the news. But, to her dismay, she was not left alone for long. 

Only a minute later, Dryden entered, a grin on his face. "Hey, sweetness. Who'd have thought that we'd have break at the same time?" He sat down next to her - _right_ next to her, turning the TV off. "Lucky for you." 

"Hm." She eyed him and scooted away. He was _way_ too close for comfort. 

Dryden, of course, only scooted closer. "Now don't be like that." 

To Hitomi's relief, she heard the door open behind her. She stood to get away from the overly friendly bagger and saw Van. He raised an eyebrow, noticing the awkward postion the cashier seemed to be in. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not. 

"Hey Van," Dryden greeted the newcomer. He stood and put his arm around the girl's shoulders. "You wanna join us in a trip to the 'fridge? I'm sure Hitomi here wouldn't mind one more, isn't that right?" 

She looked confused and shrugged off his arm. "Wh-what are you talking about?!" She stepped away from him. 

Van smirked. "No thanks. I think she'd be more trouble than she's worth." 

The other bagger shrugged. "Have it your way. Hitomi and I had best get going, though. Don't want to get back too late, now do we?" He looked at the cashier. 

She looked at Van. Why not kill two birds with one stone? "What does he think we did in the refrigerator?" 

'Crap,' thought the bagger. "What do you mean 'we'? I wasn't there. You're the one always telling me to get lost, remember? Although," he smirked at the girl, "I heard that you gave those two guys you were with a good time. I may have to try my luck again someday." 

Her eyes narrowed. In an almost hiss, she said, "Oh yeah, I'll show you a 'good time'," as she stormed up to him, grabbed his cap, and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her in one smooth motion. 

Dryden looked at Van. "Man, you just lost me a good time!" 

The gang leader stared at the other bagger. Without replying, he snatched Dryden's cap right off of his head and left the room. 

The other bagger stood there for a moment before running after him yelling, "Hey! Give me my hat back!" 

"See? I told you he wasn't wearing his hat today." 

Dryden looked up as the manager that had been talking with Van walked toward him, a stern look on his face. The gang leader simply walked away with a smirk. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Heh, look at you," laughed Dryden, an old smelly hat from the back room on his head. 

"Shut your mouth," snarled Van as he pulled off the oversized yellow raincoat. He was soaked. It was not simply raining, it was pouring, and Van was doing his hour's worth of collecting carts. Carts in the rain were not fun. Especially when one had a few hours of work left. He watched as an older woman grumbled something under her breath as she passed him, pushing one of his soggy carts ahead of her. All he could make out was "wet" and "annoying kids". 

"Too bad that hat of yours didn't help you any out there," sneered Dryden. That was, until Van handed him the dripping raincoat. 

"You're turn," he replied with a smile as he made his way to the bathroom to try and dry off at least a little. 

Hitomi noticed the scene and, if she hadn't have been in such a horrible mood, she would have laughed. That is, until her customer explained her intentions of using WIC on the already rung up items. With WIC, a government welfare program for infants and children, one had to have the items carefully checked to make sure they were acceptable and had to be rung up separately. This meant that poor Hitomi had to void (a slow, annoying process) all of the food and then check to see that that all of the items fit the descriptions. For example, only eight ounces or less of certain WIC approved cheese could be purchased. Then, they had to be under a certain amount of money each. The WIC cards had to be filled out individually, signed, dated, and rechecked. Also, the customer's WIC ID had to be checked. The process took forever, and the customers waiting had a tendency to get impatient. But, to make it worse, this customer, a young mother of three, asked to have a carton of Marlboro Ultra Light 100s. Hitomi hated selling cigarettes, especially to people who obviously didn't have the money for them. No one should smoke - it's gross, but come on - they use welfare when they could use the $30+ on food, not cigarettes. Can't people spend their cash on cereal and milk, not life-killing cigarettes? But, instead of speaking her mind, the cashier merely asked the bagger behind her to get the Marlboro Ultra Light 100s. 

He came back with Marlboro Light 100s. 

Hitomi said, "She asked for Ultra Lights," and sent the bagger back. 

He came back - finally, and, just as Hitomi was going to ring up the cigarettes since she'd already checked the lady's drivers' license for her age, the electricity went out. Luckily, the registers were still working. She finished checking the lady out and turned to the next customer. The old man slowly pushed his cart forward and stopped in front of Hitomi. 

"What happened to the lights?" he mumbled softly. 

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure. They'll be back on soon." 

"Well, why not? Don't you work here?" 

Hitomi rolled her eyes, thankful for the darkness. "Yes, I do work here, but I am just a cashier." 

"Oh, well, can't you find out? Someone has to know. I can't see, and I may hurt myself." 

"Well, I'm sorry. We can have someone help you out to your car if that would help." 

The old man made a funny noise before replying with, "No," and pushing his cart to the end of the lane. He grabbed the bags that had been packed and made his way to the front of the store. 

Hitomi began to ring up the next customer. The lights came on, and as the person searched her purse for her credit card, Hitomi turned to start bagging. Her luck with baggers seemed to have diminished greatly post-break. She shrugged, and as she pulled the first bag off the stack she saw, to her great dismay, a bag from the last gentleman. In the dark, he must have missed it. She glanced toward the door. He was just putting his umbrella up to leave. 

"I'll be right back, ma'am," she said to the customer as she grabbed the bag, turned off her light, and sprinted to the door. But, before she could make it far, she tripped over the cart the old man had left. She didn't fall, but she had stubbed her big toe on her right foot. She groaned and continued after the man. "Sir! Sir!" she called after the old man, but he didn't turn around. The sliding doors opened as she raced through them. It was pouring, and the old man was standing in the middle of the parking lot under his black umbrella. "Sir!" She took a deep breath and ran out into the rain. She was five feet from him. "Sir!" 

He finally turned. "What?" He was surprised and annoyed. 

"You left a bag, sir." She held it out. She felt the rain pelting her on the head. She wanted to run back to the store, but as she turned, the man spoke. 

"Well, if you had gotten the lights back on, this wouldn't have been a problem. What kind of store are you people running back there? Well, I never..." He slowly turned, in his rickety way, and continued to his car. 

Hitomi turned and sprinted back. She slid through a puddle. Unfortunately, her haste hadn't mattered. She was soaked through. Why did they have to wear white shirts under their smocks? Even so, the dripping smock was her savior, covering her thin, soaked white shirt. She may as well have not been wearing as shirt. Sighing, she returned to her lane. Fortunately, only the one lady remained - other customers had seen that her light was off and gone to another lane. Without turning her light on, she checked the lady out and then headed for the bathroom. Once there, she rung herself out. She used the paper towel to dry off her arms and face, but her clothes were still dripping. Her damp underwear stuck to her in a most unpleasing manner. Why her? She almost thought to herself, "Life can't get any worse," but she had learned better these past few days. Whenever she thought that, almost immediately, life got worse. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, it was time for Hitomi to leave. She clocked out - a minute early at that. After taking a plastic bag and wrapping the cell phone up in it because she didn't want it to get ruined in the rain, she took a deep breath and headed for the doors. She had almost dried in the past five hours of work, but she had been cold the entire time. The only positive side was that she was going home where she could change into dry, warm clothes. She kept that as her focus as she headed out into the pouring rain and down the sidewalk. The strength of the rain was going to make this more of a forty minute trudge than a twenty minute brisk walk. 

At the sound of a car horn, she jumped and looked up to see a rusty '86 Camry pull up next to her. The door quickly opened and there sat White Dragon still in his work attire. 

"Hurry up and get in. I'm not supposed to park in the middle of the street, and I don't want any more run-ins with the cops," he yelled through the rain, "Unless of course you'd rather just walk. Your choice. So what'll it be, wench?" He smirked as he slammed the door shut, not wanting to get wet himself, and studied her through the window. She had ten seconds to decide before he took off. 

She sighed. Her hair stuck to her face. She was cold. She wanted only to be done with this day. So, she trudged behind his car to the passenger's seat. Her shoes sloshed and her clothing dripped as she sat down next to him, slamming the door. "Thanks," she mumbled, not looking at him, but pulling her damp arms around her soaking body, trying to get warm. She wanted to cry as she buckled the loose seatbelt. 

Dragon glanced at her as he started driving. He had a good snide comment waiting for her in case she had decided to accept his offer, but by the looks of it she would either punch him in the face ('That would make me crash, and I can't total _another_ car.') or start bawling ('I couldn't stand to hear that noise the whole way back.'), so he wisely kept his mouth shut. 

The two rode in silence the entire way back to Hitomi's apartment, only a five minute ride or so. As soon as they arrived, the gang leader parked and waited for his wet passenger to unbuckle and get out. He glanced up at the girl's home only to see a familiar blonde looking down at him through one of her windows, clearly shocked. Allen's eyes soon narrowed, and he glared down at the driver of the Camry. Dragon let out a low growl. 

"Better hurry up," he said as Hitomi opened her door, eyes never leaving the blonde, "Lawyer-boy is waiting for you." 'That guy really ticks me off,' he thought to himself, 'thinking he's all high and mighty simply because his parents spoil him rotten.' 

Hitomi glanced up at her window as she sloshed out of the car. Why now? She didn't want any more trouble - all she wanted was to get warm and dry and go to bed. Was that too much to ask? She groaned, slammed the door, and, without looking back, headed through the alley door of her apartment. After trudging up the stairs, she leaned against her door and sighed before opening it, needing to regain herself before seeing Lance. Slowly, she opened it; he was still standing by the window, keeping his eyes on the warehouse the Camry had pulled into. He seemed almost uncognicent of her entry. "Hi," she started meekly. 

He wouldn't look at her. "You _live_ here?" His eyes were downcast. 

She didn't get defensive like one would think she may have and, really, had every reason to. She understood what he meant. "Yes, I do." She tried to sound cheerful for his conscience despite her utter tiredness. "It's really not that bad, you know." 

He looked up at her, trying to put his pensive thoughts behind him. "Why didn't you call? Momaru was worried." 'I was worried," he thought to himself. 

"Well, Momaru should know that I only just got off work. I was going to call when I got home." She stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out the plastic bagged phone. 

"I brought the recharger and some supper for you." He motioned to the table where there were two bags. "Oh, and Momaru wrote this for you." Allen handed Hitomi a tightly folded and taped note, letting his warm hand touch her frozen, damp fingers. At the touch, he grabbed her hands, "You're freezing. You need to warm up and get dry. I'm sorry; I didn't even think about your needs." 

She pulled her hands away. "Allen, you've thought a lot about my needs and Momaru's needs. Thank you," she tried to sound as sincere as she felt. "But, I do need to figure this out myself." 

"How?!" he nearly shouted, but he didn't stop there. "By going with a scumball gang leader?! By discarding your friends?! By working yourself to death?! By getting yourself thrown in jail again?! By living in this dump?! Do you _really_ think you're working this out?!!" All the thoughts and pains in his head burst out. Hitomi was hurt. She pulled further away from Allen who was just starting to realize the impact and harsh reality of his words. "I'm sorry, Hitomi, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say those things." He scurried around the table and grabbed Hitomi into a tight hug. At first, she squirmed to get out; she protested, but he squeezed harder and she was so tired. She gave up in melted into his hug. Tears formed in her eyes, but she couldn't let him see her cry. 

"You should go." She pulled away from him as she loosened his grip. "I need to go to bed. I will call Momaru. Tell him, tell him that I love him." She opened the door for Allen who reluctantly headed out. 

"Hitomi?" 

"Yes?" There was only a crack in the door as she shut it. 

"Be careful." 

"I know, I know. Momaru's worried about me." She almost shut it, but his hand stopped her. 

"No, I'm worried about you." 

Having nothing to say, Hitomi shut the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So lawyer-boy, you think you're so special just because you have rich parents that give you everything, do you? I think you need to be brought back to reality. Your attitude towards us 'peasants' is really annoying. You were just going to let me rot in prison for all you cared, even though I was only there because I saved your girl's life. Well, it's too bad for you they let me out as well because now I have to get you back. And I'm going to make sure to hit you at your weak spot, rich boy." 

Dragon smirked as he pulled out his switchblade. This would be fun. Just a few cuts in her... or perhaps more. Before Allen had a chance to return, he quickly got to work. A low hiss filled the room, soon followed by a loud screech. His cruel smile widened. Finally, he stepped back to admire his handiwork. 

"That's what you get for picking a fight with me, pretty boy." 

to be continued... 

A/N: Okay, so that chapter wasn't so great. Not bad, but just kinda there. And I apologize to any Dryden fans for turning him into a sick, psycho bagger! We just needed someone to fit that role and there aren't that many characters left... But what is Dragon up to now?? My goodness. And poor Hitomi. Ah well, at least I finally posted, ne? Don't worry, though. The next chapter should be more interesting! Introducing the "Meat Sale"! Ahhh, days I certainly do NOT miss... But as a treat for making you all wait so long, be sure to check back in about a week. You may be surprised with what you find. ^_~ I am done rambling for now, but as always, please review to let us know what you think! e love reading everyone's comments. ^_^


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Ahh, see? I told you that you might get a surprise in a week! The next one won't be as speedy though because the end of the school year is coming up fast and I'm very busy. And since I still have to work on my sis's costume for Anime North this year, an update probably won't come until after May 23. ^_^;; But that's not TOO bad considering it took me FOUR MONTHS for the last one, ne? Anyways, I'll try to get better, but as I said, I'll be very busy for a while. So my apologies ahead of time! 

dawnsama ~ Haha, DID Van really cut up the BMW...? Guess you'll find out. ^_~ Glad you liked the last chapter, though! 

rei :) ~ Ahh, never fear! It may take a while, but this story WILL be completed! We are working toward an ending as I type (or you read, whatever ^_^;;). Granted, it may not be for a while... But we DO have ideas to work towards! But I'm glad you find our story amusing (sometimes I'm afraid people won't get our humor, lol). Thanks for the review! 

Princess Neptune ~ Hope this was speedy enough! And I apologize ahead of time for the possible lateness of the next chapter... ^_^;; It's good to know people still enjoy our fic! 

hitomi21 ~ Any romance, huh? Now that would be telling. ^_~ Sorry, don't want to give anything away at this time, but be aware that we do keep our readers in mind when writing. ^_^ Glad you like our story! 

hh ~ Haha, whether you know why or not, we're happy that you enjoy our fic! Thanks for the review! 

Fuzzie ~ Wish granted! Updated in one week! Now, just what DID happen at the end of the last chapter... ^_~ 

devilish firefly9 ~ Aww, don't give up on us! We promise to complete this fic no matter what! And thank you for the compliments! We appriciate them very much! ^_^ Hope you enjoy this chapter! 

feckless ~ Hahahaha, you're going insane, huh? ::hands feckless a straight jacket:: Just in case. ^_~ Thank you for reviewing! 

dillpops ~ Ahh, indeed, our chapters are short. ^_^;; I'm trying to keep them about the same length, but since it's been a while, I made sure to get a second one up real quick! So, you get two shorter chapters for the price of one! Or something like that... ^_^;; Aww, sorry you missed us! At least I'm warning you ahead of time that it might be a while, ne? ^_^;; Thanks for sticking with us! 

crazy ~ A week soon enough? ^_^ Thanks for the review! 

Esca-lover ~ SIS!! I DIDN'T REPLY CUZ YOU DIDN'T REVIEW! But see? I'm replying now, so that means you should REVIEW! :P Yeah, yeah, I already knew your opinion on the last chapter cuz you read it first! You are so spoiled. ^_~ And just cuz you said so ::whacks sis on head:: Sorry, couldn't resist. ^_~ Ths had better be soon enough for you, oh dear sister! lol ::glomps back:: THANKS FOR REVIEWING!! 

Avelyn Lauren ~ Indeed! T4 would be the checker, so she writes for Hitomi. And even though I was just a bagger, I still completely understand how annoying WIC is. Bleh! So you think Van is jealous, ne? Interesting thoughts (love hearing 'em!); guess you'll have to wait and see, huh? ^_~ Hahaha, it's a good thing we updated when we did then, huh? It seems many more people than I expected were unsettled by our lengthy absense. It's nice to know that so many people still like it. ^_^ Oh, and as far as Hitomi's past goes, I think what was said in chapter (argh! can't remember, 6 I think, the one before Van spills his guts) is all you're going to get. But that's T4's area. I'll be sure to ask her about it. ^_^ Thank you for the suggestions! All imput is much appriciated! ^_^ 

And as a last comment to all of our readers: **THANK YOU!!** T4 and I really do appriciate your support for our fic, and we hope that you will continue to enjoy the story in the future! This WILL be completed, so never fear! And now, the part you've all been waiting for! On with the fic! 

Disclaimer: I think I'm gonna stop saying this... On the first chapter should be enough. 

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4 

**Chapter 9**

Allen sighed as he walked out of Hitomi's apartment complex. He couldn't understand how she could live like that. And yet every time he offered, she had refused his help, or anyone else's for that matter. Thoughts of his friend's living conditions swarmed his mind as he got into his car and started it. But he was brought out of his reverie when he realized that something was wrong. He quickly got out of his car and checked the tires. He cursed under his breath as he noticed that all of his tires had been slashed. When at last he stood up, he also realized that into the perfect bodywork had been carved a name. 

"White Dragon" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her room, Hitomi, now freezing, took off her sopping clothes and changed into warm pajamas. She went over to the table where the food Allen had brought was. It was enough for almost three meals. She smiled sadly. He was being so thoughtful, but... but... she just had to do this herself. Something inside her made it a necessity. As she munched on a soft biscuit, she remembered the letter from her brother. In rush, she tore open the envelope and read: 

"Sis, I miss you. I wish you would have come with me. Why do you have to stay? I'm so worried about you. Allen and Yukari are worried too, especially Allen. He always asks me about what's been going on these pasts couple months. Don't worry. I didn't tell him everything. But, I'm so scared for you, Sis. I don't know what I'd do without you. Please come here. You'll be safe here. Allen can take care of us. Please? Please? I love you too much for you to get hurt. Please? Love, Momaru"

Hitomi's green eyes filled with crystal clear tears. She knew her brother's worry; she felt the same way about him - that's why she had sent him to be with her friends. But, she just couldn't go. She had to prove to herself that she could handle this. Resolutely, through a tear stained face, she set the letter down, plugged in the cell phone charger, and went to bed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Van was in an even worse mood than usual on what was a rather lovely day. The sun was out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The birds were singing. The squirrels were chirping. 

And the smell of meat was in the air. 

Indeed, it was the first day of the two day meat sale being held at the grocery store in which the grumpy gang leader worked. Meat sales meant a few things. First of all, they meant that the store would be crowded with people, all of them anxious to get there hands on the highest quality piece of chicken, pork, or beef. Secondly, they meant disgruntled customers who did _not_ get the best meat. Thirdly, and perhaps the worst of all, they meant "themes". "Themes" were terrible things in the eyes of any normal employee. "Themes" meant that not only did you have to put up with meat sale days, but you had to put up with them in costume. 

So there stood Van in khaki pants and a bright flowered shirt with a colorful lei around his neck, a scowl upon his face. As he packed the current customer's last bag, he glanced over his shoulder. A manager stood a few feet away, smiling at the passing shoppers, undoubtedly giddy that he could wear his hawaiin shirt to work. 

'He can't stand there all day, can he?' Van thought to himself as he shoved the next person's meat into a plastic bag, not even bothering to ask if that was ok. As long as the manager was around, it would be hard for any of the baggers to escape. 

Hitomi, for lack of any better costume, came to work in jeans that had been cut off into capris (they had gotten ragged on the bottoms and capris had seemed more festive than raggy jeans) and a red t-shirt. Marlene, as promised, came through with a lei - a green one, actually - and a silly looking straw hat. For sure, Hitomi felt ridiculous, but looking at the decked out gang leader made her smile. In fact, that was the only thing that would probably make her smile today. 

Upon entering the store, even before she made it to the time clock, Dryden accosted her again with vague and crude insinuations about the refrigerator. And, oh too soon after that, the glories of meat sale day began. 

Despite the fact that it was Thursday afternoon, the place was crowded like they were giving away money. People were either ecstatic about the deals or annoyed that the meat was sold out. The jumbo shrimp went first. Constantly being asked when they'll get more, Hitomi just tried to keep the smile on her face as she professed her ignorance. 

The meat was finally getting to her. The customers were buying so much. First of all, the meat bags that people could put the meat in have writing on one side. And, if they weren't smart enough to make sure the scanable barcode wasn't covered with the writing, she'd have to pull it out and put it back in the back. Then, some people tried to stuff three packages of meat into one bag. That's just plain annoying to deal with. But, in reality, the worst was when people didn't bother with the bag and the meat bled all over everything, including Hitomi herself. Thank goodness she wore red and not a light colored shirt. 

Her first break _finally_ came around. And, as she walked to the bathroom to wash the blood residue off herself, she was greeted, well, if you can call it that, by none other than Dryden. 

"Hey there." He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. 

"Hi." 'Go away,' she thought as she continued on her way. 

He grabbed her by the waist from behind and tried to pull her toward him. She slipped out of his grip. He grinned. The girl was playing hard to get. Oh, that just made him want her more. 

She turned and, breathing heavily because all senses were perked and prepared for him, looked him down. 

He grinned. "You still owe me a trip to the fridge, ya know?" He ran his tongue over his upper lip. 

She'd had enough. "Alright, I don't know what you think happened in the refrigerator, but I am not interested in you at all, okay?" She still held her dirty hands out in front of her as she turned to continue to the bathroom. She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. 

"Well then why don't you show me just what did happen?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow. His clutch on her shoulder tightened. 

A disgusted look came over her face. Hitomi pushed his arm with force and pulled away. "You - " 

"Hey." 

Both employees turned to look at the newcomer, Dryden quickly letting go of Hitomi in case it was a manager. The packer sighed in relief when he turned and saw his fellow worker. 

"Man, Van!" sighed Dryden as he glanced at the intruder. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" 

The gang leader just looked at him as he asked "Do you work on Saturday? I need someone to take my hours. The idiot managers scheduled me to work when I already told them I wanted that day off." 

"Saturday?" Dryden looked at the cashier. "What are _you_ doing this Saturday, babe? If you're free then we could hang out, just the two of us. Just give me the word and I'll tell this guy to - " 

The babbling bagger was cut off as Van glared at him. "Look, I told you, she's not worth it. Don't you get it, or are you really that dense?" 

Dryden blinked. "What are you talking about, man? Everyone heard what happened back in the fridge! I just want a piece of the action!" 

"You really are sick, you know that?" said Van as he shook his head. 

"What?" 

"I mean, who would want _her_ when other cashiers, like Millerna for example, practically throw themselves at you and look better too?" he said with a smirk. 

Hitomi took this fine opportunity to continue to the bathroom. Had that gang leader come through for her once or was he just avoiding work like usual? 

Dryden stood there and thought about what his fellow bagger had said. Indeed, Millerna was prettier, and if what was said to have happened in the refridgerator didn't happen, probably more willing as well. He smiled. "Van, I think I'll go check on something. I'll let you know if I can take your Saturday hours or not after that." With that, the packer took off in the direction of the checkout lanes. 

Van rolled his eyes and shook his head. Knowing Millerna, she wasn't working on Saturday ("Work on the _weekends_??"). "Looks like I'll be keeping my shift," he muttered as he pushed open the door to the men's bathroom and stepped inside, ripping off his lei and throwing it in the trash as the door closed behind him. 

In the ladies restroom, Hitomi scrubbed and scrubbed her hands and up to her elbows. She felt dirty, but despite the scrubbing, the feeling of dirtiness stayed. Splashing water on her face, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe, if she had any shred of luck in this world, she'd be left alone. She wiped herself dry with a scratchy paper towel and left the bathroom. After stooping over to the get a drink from the fountain, she quickly straightened herself up and turned smack dab into someone leaving the men's bathroom. Before realizing who it was, she began apologizing profusely, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see - " She cut short, realizing that it was Van. She took a step back. 

The bagger raised an eyebrow. "What?" 

She sorta shrugged. "I'm sorry. That's all." She didn't make a move to leave. 

"Uh, ok..." he said slowly, "You sure? You're kind of in my way, ya know, and I know that is usually the problem, but normally instead of just standing there, you try to get as far away from me as possible." 

She shrugged and brushed past him. "Nice shirt." She didn't get very far though as she felt a strong hand grab her arm. 

"Now I know you're lying," he said with a smirk, "There is no way you'd give me a compliment, especially on this." He motioned to his bright orange flowered shirt with his free hand. 

The expression on her face faded in mock astonishment. "Oh no, you lost your lei. You can borrow mine." She took her free arm and began to grab the lei. She was stopped once again by Van's other hand. 

"Oh, no you don't. If you think I'm even touching that thing, you're crazier than I thought." The bagger pushed Hitomi through the door of the empty break room and shut it behind him. "Now spill it. What's with the attitude?" 

She sat down on the table. "What attitude?" she asked coldly. 

He leaned against the door and crossed his arms. "Like I already said, you usually run off or ignore me or something. You never stick around and just stare at me. That usually means that something happened, and if it has something to do with me, I want to know." 

After waiting a moment to think, she spoke. "Ya know... For once, nothing's happened - nothing." She forced a superficial smile that soon faded to an eyebrow furrowed frown. She stood and took a step toward him. "Thanks for distracting Dryden earlier." She reached, put her hand on the knob of the door, and turned. 

The gang leader paused before saying anything, not moving from his spot against the door. "What are you talking about?" 

She tugged on the unlatched handle, but Van wouldn't move his weight. "Nothing, alright?" Her patience for this encounter was waning. "I oughta get back to work." 

"Is that it? Was that all you wanted to say?" 

"I'm not the one who brought me in here, remember? I have nothing to say. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that I'll be leaving your life forever? Do you want me to say that I've just discovered my undying passion for you and everything you're related with? Do you want me to -" 

"Just shut up, will ya!? I don't want anything, ok!? I just wanted to make sure you hadn't sold me out or something!" he yelled. 

She was quiet for a second. "So, you did want something." She tried the handle again. 

"Wha - well, no! I just - I... Oh, nevermind!" he cried, frustrated. "I can't believe that you're acting strange just because of that." 

She backed up, letting go of the handle. "First of all, I'm not acting 'strange' as you so eloquently put it. I'm the one who's acting normal. You're the one being all weird with the pushing me in here and asking questions and blushing and all." After motioning to his face, she continued. "Now maybe you're just being dumb again or maybe you really don't think it's a very big deal, but I did want to thank you for distracting Dryden whether you just happened to do so or whether out of some corner of your heart, some rare goodness gave you the drive to do so. Either way, it's over now, okay?" Her hands were on her hips; she had nothing more to say to him. Why was it that he could be almost decent then he just annoyed her? He needed serious work on his social skills. 

Upon hearing the comment about his "blushing and all", Van attempted to regain his composure. He closed his eyes, pushed away from the door, and instead stood against the adjacent wall. "Fine, whatever. If all you wanted was a 'your welcome' then you got it, alright?" He sighed, took his cap off, and ran his hand through his hair. Carefully replacing it, he muttered, "I have to get back to work," a scowl on his face. He reached for the door and opened it to leave. 

"Ha. That's a first." She walked through the open door, leaving the bagger standing there. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the rest of the day, Van avoided Hitomi's lane. Even if there was no where else to pack, he'd manage to find something else to do, like go to the bathroom, return an item, or help a little old lady find the dried tomatoes, which since their store didn't carry any, happened to take up a rather nice amount of time. The day could not be over soon enough. 

Despite the gross texture and smell and feel and bloodiness of the meat, Hitomi was having a day that was finally looking up. Yes, Van had sorta annoyed her for a while, but she thought that she may have finally almost sorta gotten the better of him. Now, she wasn't going to flatter her ego too much or anything, but he had been almost decent. And, dude - he had blushed. Score one for the good guys. Er... "Would you like paper or plastic, ma'am?" There was no response as the older lady continued to methodically place small cans of cat food on the conveyer belt one by one by one by one. 

"Ma'am?" Hitomi nearly shouted. 

"Eh?" the old lady stopped with a 9 Lives chopped liver and cheese can in her hand. 

"If you just tell me how many you have, I can ring up your cat food using just one." 

"But they're different flavors," the customer insisted. 

"It's okay, ma'am." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes, it'll be just fine." 

"Okay..." The elderly lady sighed as she strategically began to put all the cat food back into her cart. 

"You can leave what you've already taken out." Hitomi assured, patience beginning to run thinner and thinner by the moment. 

Finally, all of the cat food was rung up and was paid for with the slowest check writing in the world. To make it worse, the lady wrote the check for $60 when the bill came to $59.23. Why did people do that? What is the purpose of writing a check when you aren't going to write it for the correct amount?! It's not like the lady needed 77 cents of change to buy something. She had a whole change purse filled to the brim! For cryin' out loud... people. 

"Excuse me," the elderly lady tried again, interrupting the cashier's frozen smile and running thoughts. 

"I'm sorry, yes?" Welcome back to reality, Hitomi. 

"I need help out, please. The cat food just really weighs down the bags, and I can't carry them. But Merle really likes 9 Lives best, so I buy a lot when it's on sale. Well, I buy the limit. Once I bought over and had to pay full price. Do you know what this stuff costs? It's expensive." 

'Of course I know what this costs,' Hitomi thought bitterly. 'It's not like I don't ring it up all day.' Aloud, she replied, "I'll get someone for you. Just you hold on a second." She looked to the left and right. Dude. All the baggers were hiding somewhere again. Dryden was on carts - thank goodness. Two other baggers were working at lane 3 and lane 5. Finally, she caught Van's eye and nodded to the lady. 

Determined to fully regain his "bad guy" status, he attempted to walk away to lane 4 to pack for the man with three items, that is until he caught the eye of a nearby manager that seemed to realize Hitomi's dilemma. Irritated, the bagger sulked over to the old lady, a scowl on his face. He attempted a smile as he reached for her cart, which ended up looking more like he had just gotten a whiff of some rotten meat and began wheeling it towards the doors. "Wait up, sonny!" the lady called in her small voice. When he finally stopped and came back, she continued, "I like to wheel it myself to steady my balance. My legs just aren't what they used to be. But, I do need help lifting the food into my car. I have my grandson to help me when I get home, but he was too busy playing some game on the computer to come with me. Ever since we got that contraption, it's been nothing but trouble. He seems to like..." She babbled on for what seemed like hours to Van as he slowly walked along side of her, nodding intermittently and not paying a bit of attention. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Hitomi made her way home that night, she saw a bright red, new Mustang convertible parked in front of her apartment. She found herself thinking, "Does Allen have a Mustang?" She was tired. She didn't really want to talk to him or even think about him. And yet again, she realized that she hadn't called his place all day. Sighing, she began to enter the side door of her dingy apartment when she heard "What the - !" and a very distinct groan. It was Allen. Where was he? She stopped and turned; there was no one in the alley behind her. She glanced over at the adjoining warehouse. She closed her eyes and made a painful sigh. No, not over there. What was he thinking?! 

Allen watched the rat scurry away. He sighed and continued his investigation of the large warehouse, making sure not to let anymore rats startle him. He glanced around the dark room, looking for any trace of Dragon and his gang when a shadow suddenly crept up from behind him. Pretending not to have noticed, he placed his hand on top of a nearby crate where an abandoned wrench lay, his heart beating fast. As quickly as he could, Allen grasped the wrench in his hand and whirled around, ready to defend himself. 

"Allen!" the shadow whispered harshly. 

He lowered his wrench a smidge, realizing who it was. "Hitomi?" 

"You have to get out of here!" He didn't move. "Now!" She grabbed the wrist of his hand holding the wrench and pulled him behind her. 

"What's your hurry?" came a low voice from further into the warehouse followed by some quiet snickering. Hitomi stopped short and closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer. Pushing Allen behind her against his wishes, she sarcastically replied, "Oh you know, I've got this cake in the oven, and it comes out in like," she glanced at her watch, "oh... two minutes. So, we really gotta go." Just let it be, please! 

"Really? Is that so? I thought you just got home." Dragon stepped forward towards the intruders. "Now, I might have just let you go, except you brought this piece of trash along with you this time." He eyed Allen disdainfully. "So I think I'll let my gang have a little fun with you first." 

to be continued... 

A/N: Did you all catch Merle's cameo? Sadly she didn't really fit in the story anywhere, so I made her some customer's pet. ^_^;; Ah well, I didn't want to leave her out altogether. Anyway, it would seem that Allen has made a bit of a mistake, ne? Guess we'll have to wait a bit to find out waht happens though.... SORRY!! I'll try to get my work done, but I have about 3 major papers and 2 huge photography projects to work on, not to mention finals are coming up. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this chapter! Be sure to let us know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Ok... I'll let you read the chapter, then I'll apologize...

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4

**Chapter 10**

Allen attempted to shield Hitomi from the gang, but she seemed pretty adamant about pushing him out of the building. "Who are you calling a piece of trash?" he cried, though with less gusto than he had intended. "So I can't enter an abandoned warehouse, but you can ruin my car, huh?"

"Shut up," she hissed and gave him a firm shove toward the door.

The gang leader smirked. "You didn't appreciate my artistic talent, did you? Well, that's too bad, lawyer-boy. Maybe next time you'll have a little more compassion for someone who's just trying to help a girl out." Dragon walked closer to Allen, paying no attention to Hitomi who was still standing between the two.

"Oh my word..." she mumbled, trying to ignore Dragon's huge ego which filled the entire room. Similarly, his gang, on his command, began to spread throughout the room, blocking the exit.

Allen, realizing that there was no way out, gently pushed Hitomi aside who had pretty much given up. He was now facing the smirking gang leader. Hitomi moved off to the side, grumbling to herself about her old friend's absolute stupidity.

Trying to be cool and tough, Allen repeatedly dropped the wrench into his hand, eyes narrow, and began, "I don't think I ever got to pay you for the work you did on my car."

Dragon's gang laughed as their leader raised an amused eyebrow. "Are you challenging me? You realize that your daddy can't come save you if you get hurt. But if you insist..."

Allen gripped the wrench tightly and swung it, hitting the gang leader squarely in the chin, causing his lip to split open and bleed. "I do."

Hitomi's eyes almost bugged out of her head. This can't go on. She thought as quickly as she could. What could she do? What could she do?

The gang leader touched his lip and stared vaguely at the blood on his fingers. His cold eyes glared at the wrench-holding wuss, a cruel smile playing on his lips. In a flash, Dragon's fist grabbed the front of Allen's shirt, and with his other he punched him in the nose. Stunned, his opponent dropped the wrench, which landed with a loud clank on the hard floor. The gang leader then pushed him to the ground and brought his fist back for another, probably final, blow, his posse egging him on.

"Stop!" Hitomi yelled. She held the cell phone in her hand. "One more digit, and I will have called 911. I know you don't want the police involved. Now, let him up and let us leave in peace, and I won't call. I don't want to have to do this, but if you even make a wrong move, I will call." Her eyes were fierce.

Dragon froze, arm still raised. A very big part of him really wanted to beat the snot out of this creep. The rational part of his mind realized that doing so would only cause more problems. Reluctantly, he slowly moved away from the downed rich boy. "Happy?" he said as he motioned for his gang to back off. As Allen picked himself off the floor, he added, "Feel free to come by anytime, lawyer-boy."

Allen looked as if he might say some threat or smart aleck retort, but Hitomi cut him off with a warning: "Come on, Allen." Grudgingly, he followed her through the door and down the rickety steps. Able to hear waning voices in the warehouse, Hitomi headed into her building, dragging Allen behind her. His nose was bleeding all over his recently clean, white button down shirt, making a complete mess.

"Sit down," she commanded as she got a damp cloth for him once they had reached her apartment. After a few minutes of directing him and lots of wiping, his nose finally stopped bleeding. "It's not broken, is it?"

He touched his nose and took a few deep breaths through it. "No, I don't think so." He hadn't said much until then. Hitomi sat down across from him. There was so much that needed to be said, discussed, argued over, but the two sat in silence for a while, undoubtedly working the conversation out in their heads, trying to find the best words.

Finally, Hitomi decided to just hit the problem head on. "What in the world were you doing over there?!" She motioned in the direction of the warehouse. Yeah, she was too shocked and annoyed to think of any better words despite her attempts during the prolonged silence.

An answer didn't come immediately. There was some staring at the floor and silent thought before any speech came. "They know you live here, right? Any time they could just come over and... " He stopped, not wanting to recount all the horrid possibilities that had been flowing through his mind.

"I've been fine up 'til now. Allen, right now, my biggest problem is what you just did. Why did you come here? I don't want you trying to save me or something. I thought I had made that perfectly clear." She sighed, running her freshly cleaned hand through her hair.

"I didn't come to save you, alright?" he defended as emphatically as he could.

What? Hitomi looked at him, waiting for the 'real' reason for his visit to the gang occupied building.

"Did you see what that punk did to my car?! He has no right to treat me in such a manner!" he fumed, adding in his head, "He's got no right to treat _you_ in such a manner!"

"So all your stupidity was because of something as lame as a car?!"

"It is a very nice car." He corrected, "It was a very nice car."

"So what? Yes, it was a nice car, but who cares? Your life and health and safety are more important than any kind of vehicle, even your precious baby." Was he really this shallow?

"It's not my precious baby," he defended weakly, not wanting to admit the truth.

"Well, you sure seem to be acting like it is…"

He stood in a rush, haphazardly pushing in the sad, little chair. "For Pete's sake, Hitomi!" He ran his hand that still had a little dried blood on it through his nice, but slightly disheveled blonde hair; he positioned his arm so that she couldn't see his face. Throwing out his hand, he continued, "You know that I didn't go over there because of my car."

"Allen," she spoke as she stood, but he disregarded her.

"I really couldn't care less about my car. It's you that I'm so worried about. Hitomi, the way -"

"Allen." Her firm tone made him stop and look at her across the table. "I know. You don't have to say any more; I know. I appreciate all your help. You know I do, but Allen, you can't fight this battle. First, please understand that this is my problem to fix. Second, they could hurt you." She looked up at him with a worried expression and looked away. "I simply could not bear it if you got hurt because of me. Please don't even make that a possibility of something I might have to deal with." She stopped for a moment then looked at him. "I know you want to help, and I thank you so much for it. But, please - please stay out of this."

He looked at her for a good long moment. He wasn't sure what emotion was going through him. Was he happy because she was concerned for him or was he still worried for her or was he angry that she wouldn't let him help? He didn't even know. Slowly, he made his way to the other side of the table where Hitomi stood, looking down. He raised her head gently with his finger, "I'm sorry, Hitomi, if I made you worry. But that is the feeling I constantly have." His hand dropped to his side as he proceeded, "Please understand. I will try my best to give you your space and let you deal with this, but I worry about you a lot."

"Please don't." She knew that nothing she could say would make him stop, but she had to try at least one more time. She always had to try at least one more time. He just smiled sadly in return and headed to the door. Just as he was opening the door slowly and the low groan of the old door subsided, she quickly requested: "Promise me something, Allen. Please promise me something."

"What?"

Desperately, but quietly, she said, "Promise me that you'll never go to that warehouse again."

He thought a moment.

"Please promise me, Allen."

"I promise." With that, he shut the door behind him.

----------------------------------

"Hello, is Momaru there? This is Hitomi," she spoke with Allen's family's butler, Mr. Scherazade, on the phone. He had come to recognize her voice due to her calls every evening recently.

"Momaru? How are you?"

"I'm good," he assured, about to burst with stories of the day. "Today, Allen took me to the zoo. He even bought me the feed at the petting zoo part, and I fed the goat. It started trying to eat my fingers, but Allen shooed it away before I lost any fingers. Then, we went to the exotic bird show. I got to go down to the front and the hawk landed on my arm. You wouldn't guess it the way they fly so easily, but they're pretty heavy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they are. But they're really cool birds. We learned about what they eat and where they live. Then, afterward, Allen and I came back home, and we had dinner, then he had somewhere he had to go. He's not back yet or you could talk with him. But Mr. Scherazade promised to play me on Allen's Gamecube. At first, it was sorta embarrassing, 'cause he totally crushed me the first few times, but I'm catching up now. I've gotten a lot better. Don't worry, though, I don't spend too much time doing that. I read and do only educational stuff during the day." He sounded only somewhat serious, but that was okay for Hitomi. She smiled almost sadly. It was great that her brother was having a good time. He deserved it. She just wished that she could be with him. Soon, she assured herself, soon. But after tonight's charades... who knew? "So," Momaru finally slowed down some and asked, "How was work?"

"It was fine," Hitomi assured.

"Did he bother you?" He didn't need to mention White Dragon's name; it was more than understood. She hadn't told her brother about Dryden. He didn't need to know that.

"Well, a little, but it turned out fine in the end." Hitomi quickly changed the subject, not wanting to be asked anything more about Dragon. She hoped that Allen wouldn't tell Momaru about that night. "But get this. There was this little old lady today who was there for the sale on cat food, which, honestly, was more than amazing because everyone was there for the meat sale, really. Maybe she just didn't get the memo. Well, I take it back; I guess she did have some of the meat on sale, which is so gross, honestly. But, anyway, back to the cat food." She recounted the story of the partially deaf lady, feeling her brother's excitement rub off on her just a little bit.

After about fifteen minutes on the phone, she had to cut Momaru off before he started recounting all the levels of the video game he was working on. "We'll talk again tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, I'll tell you about it then."

"Sounds great, Momaru. I love you." She was actually smiling. This had been a good conversation.

"I love you too. Be careful, okay?"

"I will. Don't worry about me. I'm tough."

"I know."

"Alright," she tried again to say goodbye.

"Hitomi?" he cut her off.

"Yeah?"

"When are you going to be done with this and come get me?"

"Soon... I hope. Soon." She paused. "Well... I love you, Momaru. We'll talk later."

"Bye."

"Sleep well." She hung up and held the phone for a few minutes. Momaru was such a good brother. Sighing, she set the cell phone in the recharger and crawled into bed.

----------------------------------

"Hello, Mr. Moleman!" It was bright and early this fine Friday morning before the last day of the meat sale. Ick.

"Why, hello Hitomi! How are you?"

He asked that daily, and she always answered, "Fine." That was the only response she felt like giving. It was easier than going into all the business with Allen and Dragon and Dryden and Momaru and the grocery store and everything that seemed to be going wrong, well, at least, not right, with her life. But she was at the pizza place, and, for the most part, this place was a safe haven where she could just be calm. She didn't have to worry about the people or the nuisance of dealing with customers, even. She was there early to make the crusts and prepare the shop for the day. It was just her and Mr. Moleman who just loved to listen to his oldies. Being somewhat of an oldies fan herself, Hitomi always enjoyed singing along when she could. Some days, she wasn't much into it, but after a few bars of "Wild Thing" or "Dizzy" or "Leader of the Pack" she couldn't help but lighten up a little bit until customers started coming in. That was when she remembered that she had to be pleasant and would soon have to continue on to the grocery store. It wouldn't have been so bad if it just hadn't been for... well, a few things. Oh well, she was going to enjoy her time with Mr. Moleman this morning.

"This is for all the lonely people..."

----------------------------------

Van groaned as he looked out at the parking lot. He was going to kill whoever was supposed to have carts last. It was a meat sale day; you could not neglect your cart getting duties on meat sale days. Because not only was the parking lot full of random carts, most of which were not in the designated "leave your cart here" spaces, but all of the ones inside the store for the customers to take and use were missing. And if he didn't hurry, the manager on duty would blame him. He sighed as he grabbed the bright orange vest (which had certainly seen better days before the other baggers decided to rip it apart and then try to put it back together with staples) and walked out into the parking lot, the hot sun beating down on him.

----------------------------------

"Have a nice day," Hitomi greeted for the seemingly millionth time that day. She hadn't had a second to just breathe since she got there. In fact, there had been at least four customers in her line since she opened fated lane three. Why did they put her here? She always preferred the larger numbered lanes. Why? Because people came to them last - oh, especially lane eight. That was the best lane to get. The fewest number of people made their way all the way down to that lane. But, alas, she was stuck at lane three. People were buying so much meat. She knew this wasn't going to be a fun day due to the hectic nature of yesterday. And yesterday had been a Thursday, not a Friday. Fridays were naturally busier. Sigh. She turned to the next customer. "Hello. How are you?" She began to ring up the packages of meat, along with some assorted yogurt and a head of cauliflower. The customer forced a quickly fading smile and returned to look at the really dumb soap opera magazines. When she had completely finished the order, Hitomi stated,

"That'll be $156.38, please."

"I have a money order," the customer informed matter-of-factly.

"Oh." Hitomi looked a little unsure; she never had figured out how to do this. "One moment, please." She picked up the phone and dialed the number for the customer service desk. "I need help with a money order." The person from the front desk didn't sound too pleased to have to help the cashier out but ensured that she'd be there soon. Hitomi looked at the front desk; there were many people getting rain checks and other types of transactions going on. It was such a busy line. While she waited, she watched as her line grew annoyingly long.

Finally, the person showed up and finished the money order. 'Why do people use money orders?' Hitomi wondered as she stared haphazardly around the store, waiting for this customer to be finished so she could start the next one.

At that moment, a flash of orange caught her eye. She turned her head toward the entrance and saw a rather disgusting sight. There stood Van dripping with sweat, peeling the neon vest off of him. She saw him wince and grab his finger. He then looked down at one of the stapled straps and cursed. Shaking her head, she turned back to her register and began ringing up the next person in line.

Van quickly checked the cart list and found the name of the next person on duty. He practically threw the moist vest at the bagger and began packing in his place. The cashier eyed him and crinkled her nose in disgust at what was sure to become pit stains. Van just ignored her as he stuffed the customer's green pepper (which was not in a produce bag, mind you) into a plastic bag, earning him an equal look of revulsion from the customer.

----------------------------------

Finally, it was Hitomi's lunch break. As she turned her light off, one more customer came into her line, well, one customer and one giggly friend. Groan. She politely rang up the thankfully small purchase of two candy bars. She looked at the customer, a girl of similar age to herself, but one who was undoubtedly "popular" or some such annoyance dictating airheadiness. The customer had her cheerleader smile on. "It'll be 98 cents please."

Hitomi forced a smile in return as she passed the candy bars down to her bagger, Amano, to bag.

The girl pulled out a dollar and handed it to Hitomi.

"Out of one dollar, then?"

"Wait." She stopped Hitomi who impatiently waited for the girl who was searching her bottomless purse for something. "I have two pennies to make it easier."

Hitomi looked at her, dumbfounded, but did as she was requested. "Okay, out of $1.02."

She pulled off the receipt and handed the girl four pennies of change. "Four cents is your change." She grinned, wallowing in the stupidity of the girl.

The customer's friend giggled and pushed the other girl who just looked at her hand, not believing her eyes. "Oops," she squealed as she grabbed her Milky Way and Nutrageous bars which had been gently placed into a white grocery bag. They left in a whiff of too strong perfume and highlighted hair, but not before Amano called out cheerfully, "Have an awesome day!" How could he be so stinkin' happy on a meat sale day? He always said that. Finally, Hitomi was allowed her break.

----------------------------------

It was over. At long last, the meat sale days were done. Hitomi moseyed her way home, taking her time because she was just so darn tired. It was hot, too. Yes, the sun was down - and recently, it had been relatively acceptable, almost cool, on her walks home, but today was different. It had been sweltering this afternoon, and now it was merely sultry.

Finally, she turned the corner into the alley. At this point in her walk home, she always became more alert to her surroundings, making sure no one was going to jump out of somewhere and bother her or something. She opened the door to the stairwell of her apartment. There was a shadowy figure on the bottom stair.

"Took you long enough."

to be continued... 

A/N: Ahhh!!! I am so sorry this took so long!! ;; This chapter was definately not worth the wait either, was it? Not bad perhaps, but not worth a 5 to 6 month wait... I am so sorry about that. I really am. Things got really hectic, but even so I'm SURE I could have found time before now. I really can't say it enough... There was originally one other reason I hadn't updated and that was because it was possible T4 wouldn't be able to email much this school year, and the quicker I posted, the quicker I'd run of stuff to post. However, that reason is now void since it worked out so that T4 can still continue emailing. We didn't learn this 'til about a month ago, though. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm blaming T4. Trust me, I AM NOT. I blame only myself. And any flames can be directed at me (Gwydion).

Anyway, I figured I'd reply to the reviewers at the end also so that it wouldn't get in the way of the chapter either.

Onigiri Momoko - Yeah, Dryden is a prev in our story. ;; I had no one else to put in that role... And you can say "Go Van!" even if he IS about to do something bad.

dillpops - ....don't hit me! ::ducks:: Sorry this chapter wasn't too long... It wasn't TOO short though, was it?? I can tell you this though, from now on, more than likely the chapters will get slightly bigger (like 11 should be bigger than 10, 12 should be bigger than 11, etc.).

gala - Oh man, I will not be surprised if you beat me to a pulp in your reveiw! ;; I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter up!!! ::sits and waits for punishment::

feckless - Hahaha, glad you enjoy your straightjacket! Though a padded room does sound like fun...... mwahaha.... Glad you liked the chapter, though! And a bald Allen? oO;;;; Scary...........

Angl - Hmm, Merle a wanna be gang member... Sounds vaguely West Side Story-ish... And that would have been fun, but we write the story as a normal story, not a fanfic, so it didn't even occur to us to try to fit her in there, sadly. I just get to go back and change the names and that's the only, er, "character" she fit. ;; Thanks for the suggestion, though!

rei - Haha, we definately enjoyed putting Van in his Hawaiian shirt! That amused us as well as Hitomi. But yeah, overall I enjoyed Van in the last chapter too. Hope he's ok in this one, but I don't think it's too exciting... Thanks for the detailed review!

Avelyn Lauren - ::sigh:: It's sad, after our quickest update comes our longest update... I do apologize for that....... It's fun hearing your ideas on all the different characters. It's always fun to hear what everyone thinks of the characters and how they are developing. Oh and thanks for the grocery store idea! We do have foodstamp cards, so we'll keep it in mind! Wish I could say more, but I'm in a hurry to update. Thank you so much for your indepth review(s)!

Kya77 - Haha, thanks for your questions! And don't worry, we (well, I) haven't forgotten about Dilly-sama! Sadly he's our only "real" antagonist, so he should be back...

And to Sakura onto Hitomi, hitomi21, hh, Fuzzie, Princess Neptune, Dalafanole, Mini-MoonStar, Dark-sephiroth2, Inverse-chan, and Little Krissi, thank you so much for your reviews! I know so many of you wanted a quick update... I'm sorry I didn't live up to those expectations. ;;

Anyway, on a closing note, this fic will probably end up around 15 chapters. Chapter 11 WILL NOT take NEARLY as long as 10 did, I can certainly promise you that. I may be able to have it up next weekend, but no promises since I'm not sure what projects I'll have due yet. But I swear it will take no more than 1 month TOPS. That is my solemn promise to all of the loyal reviewers/readers. Now I just hope people actually still read OGAG. ;;; Once again, sorry so late!!! Every one of your reviews made me feel so guilty, I swear.... I'll stop babbling now.....


	11. Chapter 11

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4

**Chapter 11**

Hitomi backed up to the door, fingering the handle, ready to jet if need be.

"Aw, come on, there's no need for that," he said, noticing her apprehension, "I thought we were friends now. We've gotten so close over the short time we've known each other."

"What do you want?" Though she couldn't really make out the shadowy figure, she knew the voice to be Dragon's. She wasn't afraid for herself per se, but she didn't really want a run in with him. She was tired.

"Oh, you know, just checking up on old friends, and I thought I'd stop by to see how you were doing."

"Hn? I'm fine," she replied shortly, confused at his reason for being here. Was he mocking her? She passed the first apartment door in the hallway, slowly making her way toward him.

He stood, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. "Good." He paused, watching her walk toward him. "Though I really was hoping that - Allen- would be dropping you off after work. Where is he, hm? I was really hoping he and I could have a little chat," he replied, glancing behind her.

"He's not here." She stopped walking, knowing what kind of chat he wanted to have with Allen and planning to keep her friend as far away from Dragon as she could. In a tired out but mocking tone, she added, "But, if you have a message for him, I'd surely pass it along next time I see him." She smiled hollowly like she did to the cheerleader customer earlier that day.

He gazed at Hitomi who was more or less standing in front of him. "That's a shame. I had really wanted to deliver this message to him personally. Somehow I think it would lose some of it's... punch if you delivered it for me." He walked up to her and put a smirk on his face.

She looked up at his face. "Oh," she began, playing along, "I wouldn't want you to waste your precious time in finding him. I'm sure someone such as yourself has many appointments to keep, bags to pack, and carts to round up. Please, don't trouble yourself with such small tasks as taking a message to Allen." She patted him on the shoulder as she turned, stepped around the gang leader, and started upstairs before he had a chance to say anything in retort.

Dragon quickly turned, jumped up the few stairs in one leap, and stopped her. "I'd suggest you tell that boyfriend of yours that he'd better watch his step. If he even so much as shows his face around here again, I can guarantee that it won't be his precious car that will be disfigured!"

She spun around and looked down at Dragon who was now two steps below her. "He's not my boyfriend," she clarified. Then, she leaned over, looking him in the eyes, and in a harsh whisper continued with "But, if you even hurt one of my friends, oh, you'll come to regret it." Suddenly, she thought she saw the door open, distracting her for a second. The uncovered forty watt bulb shined in such a way that she thought she saw eyes looking at her. The door shut abruptly. She must have been imagining things. With that, she smiled down at the gang leader and turned to continue up the stairs.

He followed her up the stairs. "Will I now? And just what would you do to me, huh?" he asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

Without looking at him, she replied rather good-naturedly, "Let's just say that you wouldn't be seeing much except the scenes of a four star cell in the state penitentiary."

"Just try it. I dare you," was the reply, his smirk never fading.

"Oh no," she ironically smirked back. She turned and looked at him, putting her left hand on his shoulder again. "You just try me." After patting his head like he were a little boy, she continued to her apartment.

Irritated, Dragon reached out to grab her arm to get the last word in, but retracted it, thinking otherwise.

"See you tomorrow!" Hitomi called back, almost a little too sweetly, turning out of sight to head up the next flight of stairs.

Dragon sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Yeah, see you," he mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. He then pushed himself away from the wall and headed back down the stairs.

Hitomi proceeded to her room where she pulled the cell phone out to tell Allen yet again how important it was that he stay away. She hoped he'd listen.

* * *

"Where is she, boss?" a nasally voice asked.

"It wasn't the opportune time," Dilandau replied, still wondering about earlier, the flame from his lighter flickering in the dim light of their hideout.

"When? When?" another groupie asked just a little too excitedly.

"Shut up, already! I gotta think this through." It was going to be hard, kidnapping Dragon's girl and all. Who knew that Whitey spent so much time with her anyway? Just earlier this evening when he peaked in and saw them on the steps and Dragon all up and close and personal and face to face and all... Luckily neither of them had seen him in the doorway. Finally, with a final click of his lighter, he announced, "We'll go tonight while she's asleep."

Migel, who had been with Dilandau earlier, took him aside. "Dilandau, sir, do you really think that's a good time?"

"Are you doubting me?" replied the gang leader, eyes narrow.

"Well, no! It's just that, if Dragon and the girl really are, you know, that close..."

His boss gave him a look that said, "Your point?"

"You know," Migel coughed, insinuating the situation they might find in Hitomi's apartment late at night.

"If you're implying that Whitey may be accompanying the wench, then don't you think that'd be an added bonus? Why bother nabbing the girl when we can simply crush him right then and there?" he replied, a cruel smirk sliding across his face as stroked the scar on his cheek.

"Yes, sir." answered Migel as he left his boss in order to prepare himself for that night's escapades.

* * *

After pulling the black tennis shoes and socks off her tired feet, Hitomi readied herself for bed by brushing her teeth and hair and changing into her bedclothes. The oversized red t-shirt with faded lettering that once boldly boasted "I save lives - I give blood" hung so low that it just about covered her striped, off-brand shorts. The heat of the day hadn't dissipated much, and it was already 11 pm. The craziness of late August weather! Sighing for joy at the thought of being still and sleeping, she pulled a sheet over herself, soon to discard it, wishing for air conditioning. However, despite the gruesome heat, she soon fell to sleep, a very dreamless, deep sleep.

* * *

He fidgeted with the lock. The dang thing just wouldn't crack. It's not like he had never done this before. Dilandau frowned in annoyance as he watched Migel mess with the lock on the old Taurus. Not too sure what color it was, maybe green, maybe black, the gang leader waited. His car was out of gas and he didn't particularly want to drive it into enemy territory even if it weren't broad daylight. So, the answer? Have Migel hotwire this old piece of trash. Whoever's it was would be thankful for the insurance over the hunk of junk anyway he mused. "Hurry up!" he hissed at his subordinate.

"Yes, sir."

It luckily didn't take him much longer, and the two were soon on their way to Hitomi's apartment

"This one'll be much easier," Migel assured in a whisper, standing outside her door with a small metal tool and a flashlight. Dilandau nodded and looked down the hallway both directions. Thus far, they had gone undetected. In fact, Dragon's warehouse was looking pretty quiet tonight - not even a light on in the joint or at least there wasn't one he could see from the alley.

The door swung open with a creak. The room was dark, and it took the their eyes time to adjust. They saw the old, narrow bed at the other side of the room, below the cracked window. Migel stood watch, hoping that they had not caught her and Dragon in anything awkward, as Dilandau made his way across the room carefully. When he reached the bed, he held the gun out toward her head. "Wake up."

She moaned and looked up at him. As her eyes focused, they became wide and her mouth dropped. Sitting up, she stared at him.

"Get out of bed. You're coming with us."

She stood. Everything in her head pushed her to yell out for help, but she couldn't bring herself to. He had the gun only two feet from her chest. He motioned with the gun for her to head toward the door. Just as she made her way around the table, Migel caught sight of her.

"Uh, boss?" he asked in an aside.

"What?" The gang leader turned his cold stare to his subordinate.

"Shouldn't she put on some shoes at least?" Migel had always been somewhat of a softy at heart. Not to mention the one time he had stepped on the nail... Well, shoes just seemed like a good idea to him.

Irritated, Dilandau growled and pushed her back into the room. "Make it fast."

Hitomi, unsure, slipped her shabby black tennis shoes back on her happily bare feet. The old shoes molded too well to the shape of her feet. She followed Migel out the door, wishing she had somehow thought of a tricky way to bring the cell phone with her. If only she had paid more attention to the slight of hand tricks and the magic kit she was given in third grade...

"We're just going to go for a little ride, okay, wench?" Dilandau, putting his gun inside his jacket and his left arm around her shoulders ushered her out to the car, looking at her just a little too intently. In the alley light, the Taurus looked green for sure - not that it mattered. Hitomi was pushed into the backseat where the gang leader sat next to her, his lighter out once again. Migel drove them back after hotwiring the car for the second time. This time, he already knew the car's sweet spot, so it went much faster.

* * *

"We need a packer on lane 6 please, packer on 6."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," muttered Van under his breath as he headed to the unoccupied lane. Without bothering to ask what kind of bags the customer wanted, he quickly pulled open a plastic one and began throwing in random items. It had been far too busy all day long, especially considering that the meat sale had just ended. After so many people bearing chicken breasts, pork loins, and ground beef had come through the last few days, he was amazed at how many people still needed food.

"Hey, where is Hitomi, anyway?" whined the cashier, an annoyed expression on her overly tanned - read as "lobster red" - face.

He soon heard the cashier at lane 7 speak. "Huh? Hitomi? I don't know, she hasn't been in today, has she? Why?"

"Well, she was supposed to take me off ten minutes ago! I am so starving! And no one at the front desk seems to even care! Hello? I have worked for 3 hours already! I want to go on my lunch break!" the girl pouted as she began to ring up the next order, not even bothering to acknowledge the elderly man's presence.

Already tired of her mouth, Van quickly moved away from the lane, feigning a near-bursting bladder. As soon as he was out of sight, he managed to slip away to the bagger's "secret hiding place". With a deep sigh he sat down and leaned his head back against the wall. The insane number of customers had been bad enough, but to have to listen to that annoying teenaged drama queen would have been pure torture.

"So little Miss Perfect has skipped out today, huh?" he said to no one with an amused smile. Granted, it didn't seem like her style, but then again, perhaps she had simply talked to that Allen guy again after he had made the, uh, "comment" about his possible well being and had decided to finally just go stay with him.

"One less problem for me to deal with..."

* * *

She wasn't sure to be scared or not. As she reflected on the past few weeks, things like this were happening all the time, and she always came out okay, right? But, now, in this empty, dirty room, she wasn't so sure. There was a guard posted in a folding chair on the other side of the door; she could hear him say things to other gang members as they passed. On the way in, she had noticed that the gang's hideout was a small old, run-down, apartment building on the other side of town. As she stared at the once white wall, she prayed that everything would work out okay this time too and that this would be the end of the whole mess. If she got out... No, _when_ she got out, maybe it would be a good idea to take Allen up on his offer. Her thoughts ran through all sorts of possibilities. It wouldn't be giving in, would it? Maybe she should get a different job or move far away or something. She couldn't help feeling as if she had lost not only comfort, but pride and dignity. But, this certainly wasn't a dignified place to be. How long would she be here? Why was she here? She was hungry. What time was it anyway?

* * *

"I'd like double paper, please."

"You got that, Van?" asked Millerna icily as she began to slide the groceries (which had taken up two full carts, by the way) across the counter. "Not plastic, ok? Get it right this time!" When the cashier heard no annoyed grunt in reply, she glanced down to where her bagger should have been standing only to find him gone. "Van? He'd better be getting another cart..." she muttered to herself as she looked toward the entrance. A bright orange color caught her eye.

There stood Van messing with the staple ridden vest. When he noticed her staring at him, fuming, he simply pointed at the vest, made the best innocent look he could, and walked out the door to start his hour of carts. Granted, he was about ten minutes early, but it wasn't too hard to grab the vest away from Gaddes who had been finishing his own hour.

Ignoring Millerna's rude hand gesture, the bagger looked around outside. Apparently Gaddes had just decided to start his cart hour when Van had decided to steal the vest. Carts were everywhere. Not only were the cart stalls all full, but the parking lot itself was strewn with random carts. Letting out a low groan, Van headed to the nearest stall to begin his sure to be long hour.

Twenty minutes sweatier, the bagger at last made it to the other side of the parking lot. As he headed toward the other cart stall, an elderly lady had just finished emptying her cart and was looking expectantly at the bagger in the orange vest. Quickly avoiding her gaze, he kept walking, not wanting to pick up a single cart on a very busy day, wasting an entire trip. As she started calling out "Excuse me, young man?" He increased his pace and looked the other way, not realizing he was about to walk into another customer.

"Oh, well hello there! You're just in time!" cried a large and rather jolly looking man right as Van was about to crash into him. Startled, the bagger looked at the newcomer just as a cart was pushed into his stomach. "I appreciate it!" called the man as he entered his car.

Muttering under his breath, Van grabbed the cart and wheeled it around. Right in front of him stood the old lady, a sour look on her face. With an incredibly fake smile, he said, "Would you like me to get that for you?"

Without a word, the woman simply turned around, leaving the cart right in the path of the oncoming car. Grabbing the cart roughly, he put the two carts together and headed back toward the grocery store. As he rounded the corner to the door, he overheard the customer service workers as they chatted on their break. The telltale smell of cigarette smoke wafted over, even overriding the lovely odor of his B.O., as he grumbled over the woes of carts.

"Yeah, this isn't like her. To skip out on work and all."

"Well, she did just disappear that one day... if you know what I mean..."

"Hey! Since when did you start believing the gossip of those dumb baggers?"

Van growled at that insult, but continued past.

"Plus," the woman on the defensive added, "she seems to really need this job, ya know?"

"I don't know. All I know is that three skips equals a suspension." The voice had a certain edge of warning.

Van muttered to himself, "A suspension, huh? Doesn't sound too bad."

A loud car horn caused his attention to come sharply back to his current duty. A beat up, rusty Pinto sped past, only about a foot away from him. From the passenger's seat window came hoots of laughter as he glared after the car. But as the Pinto started to billow black smoke, the laughter stopped abruptly. The bagger smirked as he steered the carts into the store and made his way back outside into the heat.

* * *

It's not too late that she'd be asleep, but she should be off work now, right? He hadn't talked to her yesterday. She was always so tired that all she seemed to do was work and sleep, work and sleep. Nonetheless, he decided to try the cell phone. After hearing it ring once, he heard his own voice: "You've reached Allen. Please leave a message."

The voice mail? He hung up suddenly, dejected. Why did she never leave the dang cell phone on? He just wanted to make sure she was okay, ya know, just talk for a while. Besides, weekends always seemed to be the times when the most trouble brewed. He knew Saturdays were crazy days at work, and she was always tired after them. Anyway, he'd certainly see her tomorrow at church to check up on her. She would never miss seeing Momaru.

But he couldn't wait. He pressed redial on his portable phone, plopping himself on his expensive, leather couch, readying himself to leave a long, heartfelt message or at least something that might get Hitomi to call back.

"You've reached Allen. Please leave a message."

"Uh, hi, Hitomi. I was just calling to see how you were doing and all... I guess maybe you're asleep or at work still, but I really thought you'd be off by now. Yeah, so call me back when you get the chance." There was a long, awkward pause. It was weird talking to himself, but he had more he wanted to say. Instead, he stalled with: "Oh yeah, Momaru's doing really well. He was actually reading a book today. What was it called now? Uh... something about... about... oh, I don't know. He said you gave it to him for his birthday. Something about a boat and a girl named Charlotte or something. Maybe it was Charlene? Anyhow, he said he'd already read it a couple times, but that he was going to read it again. Yeah, so..." Another pause. "Be sure to call me back when you get the chance. I'll be around. If not, I'll see you at church tomorrow. We'll be there. Oh, and in the future, just leave the phone on more often, okay?" A short pause ensued until he felt a rush to hang up on this long monologue. "Stay safe, okay? I miss you."

He pressed the 'end' button on his phone, and it turned off with a beep. He stayed on the couch, thinking of Hitomi, hoping she was okay.

* * *

The door slammed open, and Hitomi was briskly awakened from her disturbing sleep. A brown paper bag was thrown on the floor; the door was shut. After eyeing the bag, she opened it to find a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a coke. She looked at it wearily. What if it was somehow poisoned? She picked up the sandwich and sniffed it. It smelled okay. And what good would it do them to poison her anyway? If they wanted to get rid of her, they could just storm in here right now and put a gun to her head or something. Ten seconds of debating was all it took for her to decide that she'd chance it.

After a bite, she mumbled with peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth, "Not bad..." She had been hoping for creamy peanut butter, but was greeted with the familiar crunch of peanuts. She shrugged, too hungry to care.

to be continued...

A/N: I do apologize for how late this chapter was in coming! I hadn't meant for it to take this long, but I never do so... I'm just very irresponsible. ;; Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and the wait for the next one shouldn't be nearly as long (knock on wood...). As T4 and I have continued writing, I think this fic will end up being 14 chapters total, so not too much left to go.

And does anyone else hate that they can't have their own line breaks or even smiley faces anymore? (:glare:)

Dark-sephiroth2 - Hmm, no cursed email yet... I'll have to watch out since this one took so long... (:sweat:)

Esca-lover - Heh, yeah yeah, go poison wave shock someone who doesn't know where you sleep. (:wink:) But yeah, almost there, sis!

dillpops - Drop the story? Never! T4 would kill me if I even mentioned it, lol. So no worries there, it just may take me a while to keep on track... (:sweat:)

f-zelda - Hmm, romance... you'll just have to wait and find out. (:wink:) Although, as fair warning, there are 2 things T4 and I both struggle with: fight scenes and romantic scenes...

Aja - Aw, thanks! We love getting reviews and hearing what people think so to have over 100 is definately a great compliment! Thanks for leaving one yourself! (:D)

Inverse-chan - Aww, I hope you didn't have any sleepless nights due to OGAG! lol Especially considering how long it took to get this chapter out.:sweat: But we're glad you like it! (:D)

rei :) - Haha, wow, you reviewed then read it? XD Anyway, yeah, never fear, for OGAG will be finished if it kills me! Though it hopefully won't, lol. We're glad that you like it so much! (:D) One of your favorites in the Esca section? (:blushes:) Thanks so much for the compliment!

Onigiri Momoko - Hmm, is it Mamoru? I don't actually know... I had to ask my sis on that one when we first started adapting our original story and she said Momaru so you can blame Esca-lover for that one. :wink:But yeah, since it's so late into the fic, I won't be changing it, but thanks for pointing it out regardless! (:D)

And to Sakura onto Hitomi, Kya77, gala, Bradybunch4529, Mini-MoonStar, hitomi21, Jameth, Darkangl28, Chisakami Saiyuki, hh, and laloner, thank you so much for reviewing! (:D)


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: (:shock:) I... I... I had no idea was so far behind... Oh wow, I'm sorry you guys... It has been a while, hasn't it? Well... I'll save the rest of my rambling for after the chapter since I'm sure you're more interested in that than what I have to say, if anyone still remembers this story that is...

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4

**Chapter 12**

"Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me." The opening hymn was finishing as Allen continued to glance around almost frantically looking for Hitmoi. She hadn't called him back last night or this morning, not that he had necessarily expected her to, but... Oh, where was she? Yukari, who had accompanied Allen and Momaru to church this morning, jabbed him in the stomach. "Stop being paranoid." He looked back at her in shock. "You'll worry the kid."

Allen let his eyes fall on Hitmoi's brother who was opening his Bible to Romans 12 as requested by the preacher. At first glance, the younger boy seemed to be acting as he normally did in church, quiet if not a little fidgety, but Allen could tell that he was a little anxious as well, whether or not it was due to his own nervousness he wasn't sure. He turned back to Yukari and gave a slight nod, assuring her he'd do his best to remain calm for Momaru's sake. As he bowed his head for the prayer, he silently added "Please let Hitomi be safe" before the preacher began.

But once the message began, Allen couldn't help but scan the room every ten seconds for any sign of Hitomi. Due to Yukari's continuous elbowing, he was sure to be bruised by the end of the service. But despite the threat, he continued to keep his eyes open for their missing friend.

"Please stand for the benediction," the preacher announced.

"Thank God," Allen thought as they stood.

As the organ pumped out the postlude, Allen, Yukari, and Momaru scurried to the parking lot, everyone thinking the same thing. "I'll go over and see if I can find Hitomi. I'll ask her to come over for lunch, okay?" Allen told the other two.

"I want to come with you!" Momaru announced.

Allen looked pleadingly at Yukari. "I think you'd better come with me." She unlocked the door for Momaru and let him jump in. After doing so, she handed her cell phone to Allen. "Call if... if something's happened," she whispered, "And don't do anything dumb."

"I'll see you soon," Allen assured as he jogged over to his red Mustang convertible.

-------------------------------------------

Sitting in the rundown living room of the old apartment that the Slayers occupied, Dilandau constantly fiddled with his lighter, his head resting in his other hand. A scowl was etched across his face as he unconciously traced the scar running down his cheek. Why hadn't Dragon come for his girl yet?

"Something doesn't seem right...…" he thought to himself. Was Whitey really heartless enough to just leave her? "But he seemed really into her before. And she's pretty nice on the eyes. Does he think he can just get another one whenever he wants? Hmph, if he does, he seriously needs to take a look in the mirror! With hair like that, I'm surprised this chick didn't disappear sooner. Now, I, on the other hand -"

"Hey, Dilandau!" called Migel, interrupting his boss' mumbling.

Summoned back to reality, Dilandau barked a "What!"

"What are we going to do with the girl?" Migel, a true warm-hearted gentleman at heart (thanks to the loving care of his mother), was worried about what the others were talking about doing with her; no, it was more like to her.

"Quit asking me stupid questions! We're going to keep holding on to her for as long as we have to! Nobody touches her but me, ya got it? Now stop questioning me!" he yelled as the clicking of his lighter began again.

"Uh..." Migel looked skeptical, but added, "Yes, sir."

-------------------------------------------

As Allen skidded to a stop near the forbidden warehouse, he checked his surroundings and was sure to put the car alarm on. He, knowing that Hitomi had pleaded with him to not come around that area anymore, bounded up the stairs to her apartment. Nearly falling against the door, he knocked loudly then put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Without waiting too long, he pounded again. When he'd finally caught his breath enough to hear over his wheezes, he listened closely.

There was no answer.

"Hitomi?" he called, starting to get worried that she hadn't just slept in late.

Nothing.

"Hitomi!" He could wait no longer. He grabbed the door knob, deciding that he'd break the door down if necessary, but luckily for him it wasn't. The door opened easily. His heart pounding, Allen thrust the door open, not knowing what to expect.

What he saw in the small apartment was, well, nothing. There was very little furniture and nothing seemed out of place. He looked around for her shoes but didn't see them.

"Could she have gone somewhere?" Allen wondered aloud, "But why wouldn't she lock her door? And why wouldn't she call? If she got lost or something she should have called me."

As his eyes scanned the small apartment, he soon found the reason why she had not tried calling. His cell phone lay on the counter. Why would she leave without it? It was then he noticed a crinkled scrap of paper lying next to it. He walked over to have a closer look. It looked like some sort of flyer for a new homemade diet supplement ("Take this pill and lose up to 20 lbs. in 7 days! It really works! My dog never looked so good!"). He cautiously picked it up, trying to touch the least amount of surface area possible when he noticed something written on the back. Turning it over, he saw a note scrawled in blotchy, blue ink. He read it in a hurry: "WD - We got your girl. Just try to come get her back. - Dilandau" Was this some sort of joke? Would someone actually kidnap her? Well, he supposed it had happened before.

After rereading and close examination of the room, Allen decided that the note had to be a bona fide threat. But, who was Dilandau? And who was this WD person? After a few moments of thought, it hit him: White Dragon. Of course. Who else? Oh, he was starting to get it now. Dragon had made up this Dilandau character to scare him. Dragon probably had Hitomi all along. He had to go get her.

But that would mean going to the warehouse. He had promised Hitomi to never step foot in there again. He had to, though. What if she were hurt? What if that Dragon character were... Oh, he didn't want to think of what a shifty thug like him would do to his Hitomi. He shook his head and nearly flew down the stairs and out the door, note in hand. Considering his options, he decided he would simply walk in through the front this time (after finding a piece of rusted pipe to bring with him). Sneaking had obviously done him no good before anyway. Determined to save Hitomi, Allen took a deep breath and pulled the front door open.

Dark shadows lay all around him, the dingy windows letting in little light. He heard muttering coming from the back corner of the large room. Just thinking of the smirking gang leader's face at his apparently successful kidnapping spurred the rescuer on. As he passed random crates labeled things like "FRAGILE" and "DANGER!", he saw exactly who he was looking for. Sitting on one of the crates was Dragon himself, other random gang members standing around him. And all eyes were on him.

"Even after being warned by your little girlfriend, you just couldn't stay away, huh, lawyer-boy?" the gang leader taunted, "Decided to just barge in this time? Was the window just too high for you?"

Fuming at his play at innocence, Allen nearly threw the flyer at Dragon, but instead, he held it up in the punk's face. "Is this your idea of a joke? Cuz really, what kind of dumb pseudonym is Dilandau anyway?"

"Dilly?" His eyes narrowed at the mention of the other gang leader. How did this rich boy know about him? And wasn't he supposed to be out of the picture anyway? His gang had been beaten to a pulp during their last fight. Grabbing the flyer out of Allen's hands, he looked it over carefully.

"How 'bout we take care of this creep, boss?" growled one of the surrounding gang members, "We don't like your arrogance, rich boy." He and several others cracked their knuckles in anticipation.

Dragon held up his hand, signaling for his gang to cool it for a bit. He glanced up from the note to see Allen glaring at him, his patience apparently wearing very thin. Looking at his present gang members, he nodded his head toward the back door, their cue to leave. "I'll deal with him personally," he explained.

After the gang was out of hearing distance, Allen demanded, "Well, where is she?" He glanced around the warehouse (well, what he could see of it) as he waited anxiously to get the answer.

"You expect me to know? Go ask Dilandau, that is, if you don't mind more than just the finish on your car being scarred," he replied calmly. "Why come here where there's a gang just waiting to have some fun?"

"What?" Allen realized that he hadn't really thought too much about his own safety. He could have called the cops or something else, perhaps a little less drastic. "Who cares about your gang? Hitomi is in trouble. If you're afraid to go help her, then tell me where to go, and I'll do it myself." His words were excited with worry.

"Afraid? Right, I'm afraid of Dilly. I could take care of that idiot before he could even beg for mercy." He looked Allen over for a second. "Now for a scrawny guy like you, he might be a bit of a challenge. You gonna go through all that trouble just for your wench?"

"She's no wench, punk. She's more of a lady than you'll ever have the honor to meet again. Now, stop playing with me. Tell me where you've hid her." Allen took a defensive stance which realized his actual size. Despite the preppy white button down shirt and the khaki pants, he was no wimp.

"I don't think you understand," Dragon replied darkly, slowly standing. "I don't have her. What good would it do me to kidnap her, huh?" He was now standing directly in front of Allen. "Money? She's got no family except that younger brother of hers, and neither of them has cash. You gonna pay a ransom? Doubtful, you'd sooner call the cops. So why don't you look for your little 'lady' elsewhere and get out of my sight before I let my gang have their way."

"You know where she is, though. Tell me. Tell me, and I'll be gone."

"I wiped out Dilandau's gang a while ago. Unless they've gone back to their old hangout, I don't know where he is." He smirked. "Of course, you could always find one of his old gang mambers and ask them."

"Well, if you did such an amazing job as you imply 'wiping them out,' as you say, then why is he writing notes to you and kidnapping people? Wait. Why IS this written to you? Huh? You aren't...?" The look of worry turned to a different kind of worry... if you know what I mean.

The gang leader turned back to where he was previously sitting. "If you're implying that she was my wench, I think _she'd_ beat the crap out of you instead of me. However," Dragon sat down, "Dilly did think that she was my girl before. It's possible he never got it through his thick skull that she hated my guts."

A certain relief came over Allen, although he still was worried about Hitomi. How long had she been gone? Was she still... okay? "Fine, just tell me where I can find her, and I'll go get her because obviously you don't care about anybody but yourself." And he added, "Which is undoubtedly why she doesn't like you," under his breath.

He smirked and tugged at the ring under his shirt. "Undoubtedly. But like I said, unless they went back to their old hangout, I don't know where his gang is hiding. And considering she's been missing for a while now, he could have given up on the ransom idea by now."

The idea tore at his inside. What would they have done to her since she's been gone so long? Wait. So long? "Wait. How do you know that she's been gone a long time?"

There was a pause before the gang leader looked away, answering, "I didn't see her walking to work yesterday."

"You watch for her?" This guy was creepy.

"Of course not! Look, it's none of your business, rich boy, so I suggest you drop it."

Allen's eyes grew wide as he stepped back at the disgusting realization. "You like her. You like Hitomi!" It had suddenly hit him. Why else would the gang leader act like this?

Dragon's head shot up. "You're crazy! She's caused me nothing but trouble! She's always in my way!"

Allen listened, mumbling under his breath, "Well, it's obvious you love trouble..."

Before he could go on, the gang leader had him by the collar of his shirt. "Just shut up, will ya? Do you want me to help you find her or not?"

Now, it was Allen's turn to smirk. "Thanks for the offer. I'll drive." He shoved the hand away, pulled his keys out, and started for the door.

Not quite sure what was going on, Dragon watched him leave, confused. "What? Hey!" He quickly ran after Allen, wondering how he'd gotten himself in this situation.

-------------------------------------------

Dilandau looked at his watch. It said 4 pm. It had already been almost two days since they had kidnapped Hitomi. He was getting anxious. Where was Dragon? Why hadn't he come to save his girl yet? If he was forced to wait any longer, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it. Waiting was not his strong suit. "Dilandau!" cried Chesta as he barged into the room. "The gang's getting antsy out there. Some are saying that Dragon isn't coming. We gotta do something and soon!" The leader glared at the intruder. "Tell Migel to come here." The gang member nodded and quickly left to find his cohort. He found him standing next to Gatti who was peacefully sleeping in a corner. "Aw, come on, Gatti! It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon! Now's not the time to be - " "Migel!" interrupted Chesta. "Dilandau wants to see you."

-------------------------------------------

Allen eased down the street until Dragon told him to park so they could walk the rest of the way without being detected.

"Alright, now listen up, lawyer-boy, I didn't want you coming along to begin with. If you screw this up, I swear you _won't_ live to regret it, got it? You will do exactly as I say from now on," the gang leader threatened before Allen even had a chance to unbuckle his seat belt. He was not going to allow this wimp to get him caught. Now if Allen happened to get left behind, well, he was the one who insisted he come.

Allen's head was spinning with Dragon's words and his own worries, but he threw his seatbelt off and ran to the curb for his companion's next commands.

Seeing as how Allen wasn't putting up a fight, Dragon was tempted to just tell him to stay in the car so they could make a quick getaway, not to mention it would get him out of the way, but he highly doubted he would listen, and that would cause Allen to start yelling which would alert Dilandau to their whereabouts which in turn would likely get them caught which would lead to a rather abrupt, unhappy ending. Instead he simply told him not to say a word and to follow him as he made his way through the shadows to the other gang's hideout. Or, what he hoped was still their hideout, at least.

Once they were right next to the run down apartment building, the gang leader signaled for Allen to stop as he looked for the best way in. Luckily, the windows high on the basement walls showed the room to be empty, making an entrance easy enough. He told Allen to keep watch while he got the window open. Soon enough, the window was open and Dragon had jumped down into the dark, cement room. Allen took a last glance around and sorta slid down the wall into the basement, gripping the windowsill with white knuckles. Unsure how much farther he had to go, he closed his eyes and let go, only to fall at most six inches. Dragon watched the pansy, shaking his head. Why had he let lawyer-boy come along?

Turning back, the gang leader carefully looked around the darkened room. It seemed as if the basement was used for storage; boxes lay all over the floor, most covered in dust. He cautiously made his way to the doorway and peered out into the hallway. Stairs leading to the upper floors were at the end. Motioning for Allen to stay, Dragon crept toward the bottom of the stairs and listened for any noises from above. Upon hearing nothing, he turned back to signal that it was safe for Allen to follow, only to find that he was standing right behind him.

"I thought I told you to wait!" hissed the gang leader.

Allen shrugged and put his finger over his lips, motioning for Dragon to be quiet, as he ascended the first step. Dragon, annoyed, pushed past him and hurried on ahead, not caring what happened to the dumb rich kid. At the top of the stairs, Dragon took a quick look around and headed down the hallway. Most of the doors were shut, but just after the gang leader passed another door, Allen noticed that it was cracked open. Curiously, he cautiously opened the door. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise, and he stopped in his tracks. Dragon, who was by now a good fifteen feet down the hall, turned to get Allen. Seeing him frozen in his tracks down the hall, he retraced his steps and grabbed him harshly.

"Snap out of it," he whispered harshly, "Don't just stand around doing nothing! Let's just hurry and -"

He was stopped short as he too heard the sound. His hand going immediately to his switchblade, the gang leader put his other hand on the door and quietly pushed it open, cringing as it creaked loudly.

"Screw it," he mumbled as he roughly pushed the door open and pulled out his knife. To his surprise, the room was empty save for one lone Slayer sitting in a chair. Asleep. Snoring very loudly.

Allen looked carefully. "Who knew..." he mumbled as Dragon stepped into the room. Allen followed, shutting the door quickly behind him - the faster swing of the door, the less noise.

Annoyed, Dragon walked behind the sleeping Gatti and, covering the gang member's mouth with one hand and holding his knife in the other, shook him awake. As he woke with a start, Dragon made sure that he could see his blade and whispered, "I suggest you just keep still and answer some questions for us. Wouldn't want to have to get my knife all bloody, now would we?"

Racing across the room, Allen bent over and demanded, "Where is she?"

Gatti looked concerned. "Who? What?" he gargled through the hand over his mouth. He couldn't help wonder how they got in to the fortified apartment building.

Disgusted, Dragon lowered his hand, confident that the gang member wouldn't try anything considering his current situation. He glared at Allen and said, "Let me handle this, rich boy." Turning the switchblade over in his hand, his eyes narrowed as his other arm tightened around the captive's throat.

"Now," he began, "Dilly was keeping a girl here, light hair, green eyes. Where is he keeping her?"

A cloud of confusion and worry covered his eyes, but suddenly, he asked, "Oh! You mean the hot chick? Yeah, she was here." He almost smirked, then realized he'd better not. "Yeah, Dilandau took her alright. He kept her all to himself... unfortunately," he added in a whisper.

Allen nearly punched the thug in the face, but kept his cool as he let out a deep breath and began to pace the room. Dragon began choking the gang member. "You never answered my question: Where is she? Where is anyone, for that matter?"

The captured Gatti looked confused. "I don't know. Last I heard, she was being held in a room upstairs..." His concern was growing.

"Upstairs you said?" Allen asked as he went back over to the sitting man.

"Yeah, but like I said, none of us were allowed to... well, you know."

Allen rushed to the door, and just as his hand was on the knob, he heard Dragon call after him. "Stop, moron!" Turning abruptly, Allen glared at Dragon then waited by the door. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the gang leader turned his attention back to getting the needed information so he could get himself out of there. "You said they were upstairs, right? How far up and how do we get there without being noticed? And no lies or else you'll be taking a much longer nap, got it?"

"Uh... Well, I dunno... I've no idea."

"Think harder," Dragon hissed, tightening his grip and letting his knife touch the man's throat.

"Uh... well, Dilandau hangs out on the fourth floor most. I guess that he'd keep the girl nearby."

"A lot of help you are," muttered Dragon. He looked up at Allen. "Look, both of us can't go up there and leave this idiot here by himself. I am going to go up to the fourth floor and you are going to stay here, got it?" Before Allen could protest, he quickly added, "I told you that you were going to follow my orders, remember? You didn't go off on me back then, so don't start whining now!"

"How do I know you'll be good to her and that you'll come back for me?" He wanted to go to make sure he kept his eye on Dragon. He still didn't trust the gang leader and doubted he'd start now or anytime soon.

The gang leader smirked. "You don't," he said simply. Removing his arm from his captive's throat, he began feeling around the other man's waistline until a satisfied smirk reached his lips. Closing his switchblade, he tossed it to Allen who caught it, surprised. But when he looked up, he noticed that Dragon was holding up a small handgun.

"This will do nicely," said the gang leader as he got up from his position behind the chair. "Be sure to keep an eye on him, and don't hesitate to use that if he causes any trouble. He's unarmed now, so unless you're even slower than I thought, it shouldn't be a problem," he said to Allen as he made his way to the door.

He nodded his affirmation and glared at the sitting man. Sure, he was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but he couldn't let this chump know. He leaned against the wall near the door, keeping his eyes on the sitting duck while flipping the switchblade open and closed to get the hang of it, just in case.

Groaning softly and wondering if this were really such a good idea, Dragon quietly left the room and made his way to the stairs. When he was sure that he didn't hear anything suspicious, he carefully made his way to the next floor. Why was no one here? It didn't make sense... unless perhaps the Slayers were expecting him and had planned to leave the sleeping gang member behind to make sure he made it all the way to the fourth floor where they were waiting to ambush him...

"That doesn't make any sense," he muttered as he kept walking, "Not only is Dilandau not smart enough to come up with something like that, but why leave the gun on him?" He shook his head and readied the gun as he reached the fourth floor. Cautiously peering down the narrow hall, he noticed that all of the doors were closed. Stepping into the hall, gun pointed straight ahead, he approached the nearest door and put his ear against it. Hearing nothing, he quickly opened it, hoping it wouldn't creak.

Nothing. Sighing, he continued down the hall in the same manner. When he was finally at the last door at the end of the hall, he was beginning to lose his temper. So far there had been no one. But the gang member downstairs was proof that this was still their hideout. So they had to be here, right? Not wasting time, Dragon kicked the last door open and held the gun out in front. Again seeing no one, the gang leader cursed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Looking around the room, all he noticed were a few brown paper bags and some empty coke cans.

"What a waste of time," he muttered as he made his way back to the stairs. As a last thought, he peeked into the other rooms again until he found some rope laying in the corner. Grabbing it, he descended the stairs.

As he headed back down, he tried to think of what Dilandau was up to. It was obvious by the mess that he had been here. But where was he now? Everything was as the left behind member had said, or so it seemed, anyway. If she was being kept on the fourth floor and no one could see her but Dilly himself, that end room would have been perfect, not to mention it'd explain the mess. But she was gone now. Where would he take her?

As a sudden thought hit him, he quickly ran down the rest of the way to the floor Allen was waiting on. It was a long shot, but possible. Dragon considered just leaving without Allen, but he needed his car, not to mention he wanted his switchblade back. As he reached the door, he shoved it open. Allen, who was primed for anything, senses perked, eyes alert, knees bent, ready to spring at anything that moved while still trying to look cool and intimidating, tripped the entering Dragon and pinned him to the floor in haste. As soon as they both realized who the other was, they slowly lowered their respective weapons and turned on the captive. However, as Dragon moved toward the sitting man, Allen glanced at him and then in the hallway. "Wait. Where is she?"

"Make sure he doesn't try anything," Dragon said to Allen, ignoring his question. He hurriedly began tying Gatti to the chair. "She wasn't up there. No one was. And before you start complaining, I have an idea where they might be. Of course, I could always be wrong, but it's the only place I can think of." He got up, convinced that the rope was now tight enough to hold their captive.

"Well? Where is she?" asked Allen frantically, wanting to hurry up and leave.

Dragon reached over and grabbed his knife from Allen as he shoved the gun in the back of his waistband and hurried out the door. "Give me your keys," he commanded, not slowing his pace.

"No way." Allen ran ahead and out the door, pulling his keys from his pocket. "Just tell me where," he called out to the gang leader who quickly caught up to him and wheeled him around.

"I don't think you heard me right. Give me your keys now. We are heading back to my warehouse, ok? By the looks of things here, they didn't move to a new hideout. So the only thing I can figure is that they decided to attack, and, let's face it, he hates my guts. And if my gang is fighting, I have to be right there with them, and there's no way I am going to put up with your driving again," he said as he grabbed the keys out of Allen's hand and pushed him out of the way.

Climbing into the driver's seat, he slammed the door and without turning to look at Allen, who stood there fuming, added, "Better get in or you're being left behind, rich boy."

Angered, Allen jumped in the backseat. "I hope you have insurance," he mumbled while he buckled his seatbelt, hoping that Dragon was a good driver.

He stuffed the key in the ignition and turned the car on. However, only five feet down the street, the car stalled. Dragon cursed at the stick shift car.

"Yeah, like you're going to get us there faster," Allen muttered sarcastically while folding his arms.

Choosing to ignore his passenger's comment, he quickly restarted the car and took off down the street, tires screeching as he turned the corner at the end of the road.

to be continued...

A/N: Ahhh, I like that chapter. It was fun to write. (:D) But wow, I totally thought I had uploaded this chapter to already... But there is some good news in all of this! Due to my stupidity and how long it took me to get 12 up, you won't be waiting to long for 13 (or 14 for that matter). How do I know this? Because the fic is already finished (and edited) and it's 14 chapters long! So there ya have it. The end of OGAG is near. My deepest apologies again for the 6 month wait this time around, but you will never have to worry about that again!

Magicman/Smokegirl - Haha, yes, I'm not sure how we decided on writing a story about a gang leader that bags groceries, but once the idea hit us, it was too amusing to pass up. (XD)

dillpops - Wow, if you're still reading this story, you've somehow managed to stick with us through a lot of breaks! This chapter wasn't huge... but 3 in a row should be exciting, ne? And while I could answer your questions about the fic (considering it's done), I think I'll just let you find out for yourself. (:wink:) Thanks for reveiwing!

Jameth - Hwa! Thanks for the bear hug! (:D) Glad you liked the chapter! And wow... Valentines Day... It's been so long... (:cry:) But I'm sure my V-day was just fine. (:sweat:)

animelo - Ah yes, we tired to keep Hitomi away from the love-struck thing considering Van is a gang member and all, lol. It wouldn't have fit very well, considering the circumstnces. Thank you for your "wonderful" review! (:D)

Dark-sephiroth2 - ...I'm worried... It has definately been over a month, let alone 2 weeks... Don't curse me! (or T4!) I swear the fic is complete and will be updated soon!

Esca-lover - I know you've not become so fond of this fic, but only 2 chapters left! You can hang with me 'til then, right? (:wink:) And yes, Dilly is in it more (you get to see him drool, hahaha, but that's for later). :huggles Dilly: Anyway, don't think that now that you don't live with me that it means you don't have to read anymore, cuz I know where you live! (:XD)

Dilanda Albata - Haha, it's ok that you didn't review, just glad to know you liked it! And not too much more, so "reviewibng religiously" would be 3 more times, lol. Thanks for the review! (:D)

Onigiri Momoko - Hahaha, aww, poor Allen! Yeah, well, I'm not incredibly fond of him, but he just so amuses me in this story (the later chapters especially). And Van FINALLY got the hint! Off to the rescue! Both Van AND Allen? This should be interesting, ne? (:wink:)

Monty - Glad you like our story! As for Allen or Dryden/Millerna, well, Millerna and Dryden were just side characters so no, we won't be getting any more into their characters. And yes, it is indeed sad about Merle... I would have liked to give her a bigger role than some random pet cat, but alas. Thank you for your review! (:D)

And to f-zelda, Strawberryz, Chisakami Saiyuki, lildevil666, fuzzie, mysisterisasquijum, Jesor Cabue the Anacam, and Chocolate-Covered-Coffe-Beans, THANK YOU SO MUCH for reviewing! We love you all for it! 150 reviews is far more than we had ever anticipated! (:D)


	13. Chapter 13

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4

**Chapter 13**

Dragon came to a full and complete stop across the street from his warehouse. Even from there, he could see men swarming the place.

"Hitomi isn't in there, is she?" Allen asked, concerned while taking his seatbelt off and grabbing his keys from Dragon.

The gang leader's eyes narrowed as he watched his warehouse teeming with Slayers. Without answering, he threw open the car door, jumped out, and slammed it behind him.

"Be careful!" cried the concerned blonde, eyeing his driver's side door. "But seriously, she can't be in there, right?"

"And if she was?"

Allen looked at him. He could tell that the gang leader thought that Hitomi was indeed inside. His stomach jumped up into his throat, but before his emotions were allowed to run wild, his logic (if that's what you can call it) started working. "Then we have to get her out safely. What should we do?" he asked the more experienced (in this department, at least) man.

Turning to look at Allen, he answered, "My gang comes first. I'm going to help them. I would suggest that if you want to see your precious Hitomi again, you go in and get her. But after that, you'd better beat it." Facing back toward the warehouse, he clenched his fists. "Dilandau is mine, got it?" he growled. Without waiting for a reply, the gang leader took off, heading for the nearest entrance.

"Oh crap!" Allen spit the words out as he glanced a worried look at the building across the street. "Well, here goes nothing." He took a deep breath and ran across the street. Remembering the fire escape and figuring it would be the easiest way in, he decided upon that as his route to... to... well, to Hitomi.

* * *

"Dragon!" cried Chid as he punched another Slayer in the face, "Where the heck were you, man?" 

The gang leader fought his way to his comrade's side, knocking out a member of the enemy on the way that had a bright green mohawk. Once they were back to back, he asked "What happened?" over his shoulder while keeping an eye out for an oncoming attacker.

"Well, I think that's pretty obvious!" shouted Chid as he punched a rather round opponant in the gut. "One minute we were all just hanging out, the next we saw the freakin' Slayers swarming the place! Where were you?"

"From the looks of it, we aren't exactly winning," replied Dragon as he blocked another punch. A cruel smirk crossed his face as he looked the enemy in the eyes. "I thought you were all better than that." He quickly punched his adversary square in the nose and watched him fall into another Slayer that was directly behind him.

"I thought you were supposed to be here when we needed you, boss," said Chid wryly.

Dragon's eyes narrowed. "Where is Dilandau?"

As Chid turned his head to motion upstairs to the gang's main room, a fist from the Slayer who had just pealed himself off the ground caught him square in the jaw, causing a bloody tooth to fly across the room. Chid followed his tooth as Dragon tripped the opponent, stepping on him as he made this way to the stairs.

* * *

On the other hand, or rather, staircase, Allen was not doing well at all. "Excuse me!" he yelled out yet again as two people seemed to be locked in a battle between two immortals that would last for all eternity. The two opposing gang members looked at him and one kicked him in the gut, causing him to fall back a couple stairs. "Hey!" Allen yelled back as soon as he was on his feet again. He pulled the one and pushed him into the other and the two fell backwards over the pathetic stair rail. Allen cringed when he heard them hit the cement. Fortunately for them he wasn't even at the second story yet. He looked up ahead of him. The fire escape was filled with fighting men. He sighed and continued his way up, excusing himself. Sometimes the fighters would be so confused that they'd just let him pass. Other times, he wasn't so lucky. 

"Hey, where do you think you're going, punk?" yelled a random gang member, pierced nose and all. Allen wrinkled his own nose in disgust, wondering when the hoodlum had last brushed, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it as a fist flew straight at his face. He quickly ducked and tried to maneuver past his opponent. Of course, this only caused him to run into yet another gang member. Determined to find Hitomi, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable.

* * *

Dragon's eyes scanned the second floor room as he ducked away from yet another attack. Where was Dilandau? Surely he wouldn't be in the midst of the brawl, would he? Sure, he liked a good fight as much as the next gang member, but he'd always gotten the feeling that ol' Dilly got a sick pleasure simply from watching. He'd probably be standing out of the way, perhaps against a wall... 

"There you are," muttered the gang leader as he knocked another Slayer to the floor.

Despite feeling a little worse for wear after his climb, upon seeing the other leader, he was reminded of the cause of all this. There sat Hitomi, hands tied behind her back, with Dilandau who looked a bit sulky, actually.

"You filthy, son of a..." growled Dragon as he made his way toward the back corner, dodging flying gang members as he went, "I'll teach you once and for all to never mess with me or my gang ever again."

* * *

"Why does everything revolve around this stupid warehouse?" Hitomi thought to herself bitterly as she pulled her legs closer so that the gang member Dilandau just punched would fall on the floor instead of her. She made a face of disgust and prayed that she'd make it out safely. If she did, she decided that she would have to make changes, major changes. Until she knew exactly what she had to do, she would have to take Allen up on his offer. Hitomi recognized she just couldn't keep living this way. 

"Where is that bushy-haired loser?" Dilandau muttered yet again, angrily flicking his lighter on and off.

Hitomi sighed. At least as bait she was being protected more or less, and since Dragon's gang had nothing to do with her, she could just sit there.

A strand of her hair was making her nose itch. Blowing the strand out of her face, she scrunched her nose trying to make the itching stop. With her face in this weird contortion, eyes squinted, nose scrunched, she made out an all too familiar figure making his way slowly toward her. She loosed the muscles in her face as she watched him creep against the wall toward Dilandau.

"Excuse me," she called to her captor. What was she doing? What was she going to say?

He didn't hear.

"Excuse me!" Why was she bothering to help?

Hearing this time, he looked at her, clearly not in the mood for games. "What, wench?"

"Uh..." She saw the bagger in his gang paraphernalia close in on Dilandau in a few large strides. Dilandau was about to look away, annoyed, and realizing that she was losing his attention, Hitomi blurted the first thing that came to her mind. "You see, my nose itches. I was wondering if -" She didn't have a chance to finish the sentence because the gang leader had been hit square in the jaw by Dragon.

* * *

On the fire escape, Allen was still suffering. Unable to believe how long a staircase could become in such circumstances, he continued to battle his way to the second floor. Unfortunately, he had come across a Slayer and a member of White Dragon's gang, and, for some unknown reason, they had banded together against him. As much as he shouted at them that he didn't want to fight and wasn't their enemies, they wouldn't listen. "Really, guys. I don't want any trouble," he tried again. His eyes grew large as he saw the Slayer's fist come toward his face. Ducking, he kicked the other guy in the knee, easily dislocating it. So, those Anatomy classes had come in helpful after all. The maimed gang member fell down the stairs, letting Allen make it up a few more before the Slayer pulled him back down by his shirt, ripping the bottom of the back in two. 

"Please let me go!" Allen pleaded as he took a kick in the back before elbowing the punk over the railing. But, after a few steps up, the gang member flipped himself back over the railing, kicking the blonde in the shoulder. Allen just couldn't seem to shake this guy, and another was coming down to help him.

* * *

"You little punk!" cried Dilandau, rubbing his chin as he tried to back away from his opponent. "He's finally here," he thought, "What the heck took him so long?" Finally over the initial shock from the hit, the angered gang leader lunged, determined to get in a few hits of his own. 

"You think I'm gonna let you get away with trashin' my place and attacking my guys?" cried Dragon between punching and dodging. He was furious. There was no way he was going to let this piece of trash get away with it. Grabbing his switchblade, he lunged at Dilandau, just barely missing his chest. But, that didn't stop him as he punched the bagger square in his jaw. Dragon grabbed the fist that just hit him and slashed at Dilandau's arm, causing a fairly deep cut.

Hitomi couldn't watch. As much as she didn't like Dilandau, seeing his intestines sprawled out on the floor was the last thing she wanted. Looking away, she saw two other gang members fighting. The one, taking a large metal pipe, threw it at the other man, hitting him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Hitomi had an idea.

Until she remembered that her hands were still tied behind her back, that is.

"Great, now I just have to hope that someone is kind enough to untie me," she thought sarcastically.

She looked up suddenly when a cry of pain came from the direction of the two gang leaders. Dilandau had just sharply twisted one of Dragon's arms. Before he could get out of the grip, Hitomi heard a clank as his switchblade hit the floor.

The gang leader made a grab for the knife with his free hand, but before he could get to it, Dilandau had kicked it away.

"Let's make this a fair fight, shall we?" we said with a sinister grin.

Sneering up at him, Dragon twisted his arm free and threw a punch at his opponent's wide open torso. As the two continued going at it, Hitomi looked down at the switchblade which was now a foot in front of her, not believing her uncommonly good luck.

* * *

He just got to the second floor and whipped in, planning on going straight to Hitomi. Unfortunately, his plans were changed by unforeseen events. A fist flew towards his middle, and, catching him unawares, knocked the wind out of him. He looked up to see one of Dragon's gang members who had "greeted" him earlier that day by calling him an "arrogant rich boy". Still a bit annoyed at the name calling, Allen rammed into the "skinny creep" (which would have been Allen's comeback earlier, if he hadn't been too worried about Hitomi) like a 30 ton wrecking ball. At least, that was the idea. Unfortunately, the skinny creep was a fast skinny creep. Allen ran into a pole, turned, waited a second for the skinny creep to throw a punch, grabbed his fist, and yanked it around his back. 

"Where's the girl?" he hissed.

Skinny creep yelped with pain, but tried to get away.

Allen pulled his arm tighter. "I said, where's the girl?"

Through clenched teeth, he replied, "By the far wall."

Allen looked to see Hitomi sitting on the ground and looking at her hands. Throwing the creep out onto the fire escape, he hurried toward her, through a handful of other, random gang members.

* * *

Dilandau grimaced. This fight was not going as he had planned. He had thought that once his opponent was rid of his wretched knife he'd win for sure! I mean, how was it possible for them to be this evenly matched? He had proven in the past that he was stronger than he looked. However, for some reason, he was having a hard time connecting his fist with Dragon's face. The fight was still not fair enough, apparently. 

He smirked as the bagger lunged again, only instead of his normal attempt to block, the gang leader ducked out of the way while pulling a gun from his belt. Aiming it, he fired, grazing his opponent's left shoulder.

Dragon cursed. Of course Dilandau had a gun. Why had he been so careless? "It doesn't matter," he thought as he reached for the gun he had taken from the other man's hideout, "I'll just level the playing field a bit."

With a bang Dilandau quickly realized that he was not the only one with a gun. Of course, the bang was also accompanied by a sharp pain in his arm. Cringing, he immediately dropped his gun and grabbed his bloody wound. Dragon quickly kicked his gun away.

He smirked. "Let's keep this a fair fight," he said, pointing the gun at Dilandau's head, "shall we?"

Without warning, Dilandau fell with a clunk, blood oozing from his head.

to be continued...

A/N: Well, I had hoped to get this up last week, but it just didn't work out. I hope it was worth the wait. Anyway, onto the reviews!

Sakura onto Hitomi - Hahaha, yeah! More grocery store workers! (XD) I'm sorry, lol. But we're glad you appreciate the story! Thank you for your review! (:D)

shadow Glider - Wow, you've loved our story for so long? That's good to hear, lol. I managed to get this chapter up fairly quickly too (though not as quickly as I'd hoped), so maybe it was your cheering us on! (:wink:)

MagicmanSmokegirl - Hehehe, indeed, it does not do to turn your back on the main female. But it would seem Dilandau won't be feeling much of anything for a good while...

FireIo - No wait! Don't kill us, well, me since it was my fault, not T4's... But you'll never get the last chapter if you kill me! (:hides:)

pure hope - THANK YOU SO MUCH! WE ARE SO HAPPY YOU REALLY LIKE OUR STORY! WAS THIS CHAPTER UP FAST ENOUGH? ONLY ONE MORE SO NOT TOO MUCH LONGER TO WAIT! (:D)

Chisakami Saiyuki - Ha! I did update sooner! Perhaps not as soon as everyone wanted... but still a lot better than usual! And no, there will be no sequel. T4 and I had discussed that and, honestly, a second story would be too far from the fun of the original (for reasons you'll see why next chapter (:wink:). Not to mention we just don't wanna write another with the same characters. (XD) We love'em, but they need to be let go...

dillpops - Haha, yeah! Good to know we still have one of our old reviewers. (XD) Not that we don't love our newer ones too, of course! (:hugs ALL reviewers:) And chapter 12 was my favorite so I'm glad you liked it! (:D)

dilly-sammas luver - Don't die! That wouldn't be good at all! Besides, you have to read on about Dilly-sama's fate! Poor guy...

Dark-sephiroth2 - ...ya know, I think you DID curse me! Once I reminded you of it, anyway. Why? Because the Thursday after I posted the last chapter we had a random meat sale out of NO WHERE and it was the WORST day I have ever had! Not to mention it really WAS Hawaiian themed and the manager really DID bring clothes for people... A little too similar to our story's meat sale... A coincidence? I'm thinking not... But only one chapter left! Don't curse me again! (:cry:)

And to Karone Richardson, mysisterthinksimasquijum, Dilanda Albata, and Silverfox-trot, thank you SO MUCH for reviewing our fic! (:D)

I do enjoy this chapter myself, so I hope you all do too. And there wasn't too much to edit as far as Big G/Dilandau was concerned, either, which is always nice for me. I thought I'd have to do some major surgery... But we had only refered to his weight a few times, all of which were easy to fix so that he did not sound overweight, and besides that there was only the occasional word that needed to be edited. So yeah! Although, as always, certain parts aren't as funny because of it... but it just wouldn't have been Dilandau. (:sigh:) Whatcha gonna do? Anyway, hope you liked it! Only one chapter left! Please let us know what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I know you all want to get onto the fic, but I wanted to respond to the reviews first since the fic is ending. There will probably be a lot... so feel free to skip them and go straight to the chapter (right after the title in bold).

Shadow Glider - Hahaha, a ridiculusly happy dance? Wow! We're flattered! But no "Go T4!"? This is a joint fic remember, lol. Glad you have liked it so far! (:D)

Chisakami Saiyuki - DID Van just kill Dilandau? Good thing the chapter is out so you can find out, huh? Because I'm not telling. (:wink:) And this one wasn't out as fast as it should have been... I'm sorry!

Soph - While I will not answer the question of "is it a romance fic" (you'll have to read to find out), be sure to read the author's note at the end. (:wink:)

Darksephiroth-2 - Ok, so maybe you didn't curse me... but now the last chapter is out so you have no more reasons to want to curse me... right?

dillpops - Haha, yes you can thank T4 for pretty much all of the Allen moments including his "excuse me!"s as he pushes through the fighting gangs. Wasn't so quick with this one, but I hope this last chapter is worth the wait! (:D)

Dilanda Albata - Ah, as is addressed at the very end of this fic, no, there will not be a sequel. Unless at some point in the far future we feel like revisiting it, but as of now, it's just not going to happen. Sorry!

demonic25angel - Aw yeah! I personally enjoy it when we get compliments like "it's well written" and such, so thank you! We hope you enjoy the last chapter! (:D)

pogo the kosher penguin - Hahahaha, short, sweet, and to the point! Thanks! (:D)

Abbys - Aw, I'm glad someone thinks we stayed true to the characters, lol. I sometimes feel we, well, didn't, but thank you for the compliment! Hope you like the last chapter! (:D)

dill-sammas lover - Ahh! Sorry! I didn't update fast enough! (:cry:) But I did update! So go read! NOW! I don't want you to be tortured... Although I must admit I love leaving cliffhangers because I'm evil like that, mwahahaha...

And to pure hope, Onigiri Momoko, Sakura onto Hitomi, MagicmanSmokegirl, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, Yume Keki, Chocolate-Covered-Coffee-Beans, mysisterthinksimasquijum, Mayonaka, and cateyes-120, a huge THANK YOU for reviewing! We love reading them! (:D) We hope all of you (and any newcomers and lurkers, lol) enjoy this last installment!

**Of Gangs and Groceries**  
Gwydion and T4

**Chapter 14**

Dragon looked down at Dilandau, knowing that he would stay down this time. Hitomi too looked on, dropping the metal pipe with a loud clang. Her hands were still shaking.

Stunned, the bagger looked up at the anxious cashier. He noticed his switchblade laying on the floor next to the thin ropes that Dilly had used to bind her. He slowly lowered his unfired gun.

"Not bad," he mused aloud as he nudged the unconscious man with his foot. Hitomi flashed a nervous smile which paled to plain uneasiness as she unconsciously touched the rope burns on her wrists. "I can't believe I just..." she mumbled.

Satisfied that the other gang leader was not getting back up anytime soon, Dragon ran his free hand through his hair, relieved that his worst injury was a scratch on his arm. He glanced at Hitomi and noticed her red wrists.

"Um, are you alri - "

"HITOMI!" came a shout from the thinning mass of rumblers.

Her eyes widened. It couldn't be. "Allen?" she gasped.

"Can you hear me?" he continued yelling. She turned to look in the direction of his voice. "Don't worry! I'm almost there! I - " Allen's voice stopped short as he tumbled to the floor, not far from where Hitomi and Dragon were standing. Both looked at him. He looked up.

After a moment of shock, Hitomi knelt down. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern and confusion.

Allen blinked. Wasn't that supposed to be his line? "I'm f - Hey, what about you! I mean, you were kidnapped and I came to save you, but..." His eyes fell on Dragon who had one eyebrow raised and was smirking, amused at the rich boy's antics.

"You're still alive?" scoffed the gang leader. "And here I was betting otherwise. Lawyer boy can be quite the rebel, huh?"

At that, Allen realized his position and scrambled to his feet. He shot Dragon a dark glance, but ignored his snide comment. "Let's get out of here, Hitomi."

She blinked and stood up next to him. Realizing he was right, she followed Allen who was already heading toward the fire escape. Slowing her pace, she glanced back at Dragon with a rather unreadable look. It almost looked like resignation, but that was probably only because she hadn't slept for a couple days.

The gang leader sighed and watched the fighting as the last few men standing went at it. It was finally over, though seeing only a fraction of the damage made him wonder if either side had really won. He glanced at Dilandau. He had been completely ready to kill him earlier, but now, knowing that it was finished, he was glad that Hitomi had gotten to him first. He reached for the ring dangling around his neck as he tossed the gun onto the fallen man's chest. But he was still left with at least one problem.

"What to do with him this time..."

* * *

She shut the door behind her slowly. Allen slouched down in a chair, already feeling the bruises start on his back and shoulder. He knew he was going to be sore for a good long while. Looking up, he saw Hitomi rushing across the room. Upon seeing a loaf of bread, she ripped open the bag and stuck two slices in her mouth, tearing off a huge bite. With less energy, she grabbed the rest of the bag and plopped herself down in the chair across from Allen. 

For a while, the two sat in silence, Hitomi steadily eating the whole time. After a few minutes, she squinted her eyes to see the alarm clock next to the bed. 5:47 pm on what she assumed was Sunday. Her mouth had the last bite of her fifth slice of bread in it as she began to speak. "Allen," she said then swallowed. He looked at her with a tired expression. "If your offer still stands, I would like to..."

"Of course it does," he assured her, sitting up in his chair in earnest.

She nodded slowly, taking in his words. "Thank you." Gradually, she got herself up and moving around the room, packing her belongings into a suitcase that had been stored under her bed. Allen just watched her methodically pack her things, her life, away. As she was refolding a sweatshirt, she began talking in a calm, but worn-out voice.

"So it seems you were right all along." The words hurt her. "I don't know what I was trying to do. I just wanted to work this out by myself, ya know? I didn't ask for all this trouble. I don't want to be someone's charity case." The words flowed out her mouth too easily.

Allen finally stood and went over to her. "Hitomi, you're the strongest person I know, and you're no one's charity case. You're my friend. You know that."

She nodded but didn't reply. She just hated the feeling of being defeated like this. The packing was almost done as she pulled the alarm clock out of the wall at 6:09 and stuffed it into her suitcase. The bag of bread remained out as she zipped the suitcase closed. With one last glance around the room for memory's sake and one last check that she hadn't left anything, she sighed. "Let's go."

Hitomi reached for the rusted doorknob and pulled, ready to leave this portion of her life behind her. However, she soon realized that it wasn't quite ready to be left. There in her doorway, fist raised as if about to knock, stood Dragon, a look of mild surprise on his face.

Caught a bit off guard, the gang leader quickly tried to replace the look with his normal scowl, but it wasn't working very well. He was still rather uncomfortable with the idea of even stopping by. He had just worked up the courage to knock, when the door had simply opened. Needless to say that it hadn't helped his situation.

"Hey," he said simply, trying to remember what had convinced him that this was a good idea.

"Are you here for a reason?" asked Allen as he glared at the one man that always managed to make life miserable whenever he showed up.

The gang leader leader began studying a particularly nasty stain on the wall, not wanting to say that one small sentence. Especially in front of lawyer-boy, though he supposed it would be for the best that way.

"I need your help," he mumbled quickly. Oh, how he hated admitting that. Hitomi stared for a quick second before laughing, not the jolly 'you just told a great joke' laugh, but the quiet laugh of disbelief and irony. "What?" she said as she put down her bags. "Haven't we helped you enough?" She raised her red wrists to his eyes while Allen stepped a bit to the side.

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry, ok? Not like that was my fault or anything..."

"Not your fault?" Hitomi muttered in disbelief while rolling her eyes. Of course, it was his fault.

The gang leader ran a hand through his hair, aggrevated. "Argh, that's not the point! I... I wanna turn Dilandau in," he said bluntly, but he hurriedly added, "Not like I can't take care of him myself or anything. I mean, this is the second time we've caught the idiot; it's just that, well, the guys are starting to look for a bit... harsher punishment, and I'm not sure I'm willing to put a bullet in his forehead, ya know?" The gang leader began fingering the ring under his shirt again and sighed. "I just know the police won't believe me if I try turning him in by myself." He watched Hitomi and Allen's faces for their reactions.

Hitomi blinked skeptically. He had sure seemed ready to put a bullet in his head earlier. She gave Dragon a dark glance. The gang leader noticed, but didn't say anything. He guessed by her expression that she was questioning his sincerity, and as much as he wanted to prove that he had meant what he had said about turning Dilly in, his previous actions had probably already convinced her otherwise.

On the other hand, Allen, having given a bit of thought to the matter in the few seconds of silence, spoke up, "I suppose it won't do to have him still roaming around." Mainly, he was thinking of Hitomi's wellbeing, but who could blame him? "And certainly, no one would trust the likes of you." Dragon's eyes narrowed at the comment, but he held his tongue, knowing he was right. Allen glanced at the shaggy-haired ruffian with a bit of disdain, ready to say he'd help then be through with Dragon forever, but realized that it wasn't exactly his place to decide. "Hitomi? What do you think?"

She broke her gaze at Dragon and looked at Allen, then back to the waiting Dragon. "It's not like he ever helped me," she replied coldly. The gang leader opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. If he screwed this up, they'd never agree to help. He hated the thought, but if he somehow ended up in a similar situation again, with no one to stop him, he might really kill someone. That thought he hated most of all.

After holding her stony expression for a moment, she resigned with a tired sigh, "But he certainly can't do it by himself." She was about to pick up her bag, but after she took another glace at Dragon, she knew it would never do to go to the police station like this. "Before we go anywhere, you've gotta get yourself cleaned up. Who'll believe someone who has encrusted blood all over his face?" She shook her head. He really did need their help.

With a smirk, Dragon looked up and down Hitomi. "Maybe, but I'm not sure they'd really take a girl in her pajamas too seriously either, so if I clean up, you change."

She looked down at the pajamas she had been wearing for what, three days straight? The idea of changing appealed so much that she just mumbled, "Yeah..." She turned to go back into the apartment she had expected never to enter again, dragging her bag behind her. "15 minutes. Downstairs," she called over her shoulder to the two at the door.

"15 minutes?" mumbled Dragon, "I always thought that girls took at least an hour." Or so he had learned from Millerna's complaining at work. He turned to look at Allen, "I'll be heading back to my place. When I come back, I'll have Dilly with me, ok?"

"Hey," Allen caught the attention of the gang leader who was already heading down the stairs. He stepped out of the apartment, pulling the door shut quietly on his way out so that Hitomi wouldn't hear their voices. "After this, it's over."

Dragon raised an eyebrow. "It's over? Considering Dilandau will be in jail, I'd say that's a fair bet. Unless of course you plan on attacking with a bunch of your little lawyers-in-training." The mental image forced a smirk to his face. He could just imagine the warehouse being overrun by lanky blondes using pens and paper instead of clubs and guns.

"Hey," Allen said with a serious face, pulling himself to his full height. "I was just trying to be nice and warn you. Hitomi's leaving. Since you seemed all head over heals about her earlier, I just thought you might want to know."

"Have you gone completely insane?" The gang leader gave a short laugh before turning back around. "Head over heals? She hates my guts! I'm the cause of all of her problems, remember? Maybe if that wench finally leaves there'll be some peace and quiet around here, then we can both be happy." He rolled his eyes. "So she'll be gone for good, huh? It doesn't surprise me. She's not the type. To be living around here, I mean. Although she also seemed too stubborn to leave. Guess she got roughed up one too many times, huh?" he added dryly as he glanced back at Allen.

"Right. Don't like her one bit, huh? Your babbling speaks for you." Allen gave a wry grin and went back in the apartment, shutting the door behind him. Unfortunately, the last sentence of Dragon's babbling stuck with him. She had been roughed up a lot lately. She must be tired and worn, upset and frustrated. He decided that he would have to make sure to help her be comfortable and to show her how much he cared for her.

"I do NOT babble," muttered the gang leader harshly as he began decending the stairs once again.

* * *

"You're late." Allen looked at his watch meaninglessly. 

Dragon hobbled into the narrow alley where Allen and Hitomi were waiting, dragging the unconcious gang leader next to him. "Well, sorry, this guy's not exactly light as a feather," he grunted. He had no idea that making it out of the warehouse would be so hard. Dilandau wasn't exactly the biggest guy in the world, and he was supposed to be strong. Right?

Hitomi rolled her eyes. She seemed a lot calmer after a quick shower and a clean change of clothes, but that didn't mean she was terribly happy about the situation. Grabbing her bag, she made her way to Allen's car. Dragon stumbled after, Dilandau on his shoulders.

After loading the bag and body in the back seat, Allen and Hitomi took their seats in the front, leaving Dragon in the back with his "friend."

"So, you picked up his gun, right?" Allen asked, glancing at Dragon in the rearview mirror.

"Are you kidding?" he said, trying to get as far away from Dilandau as possible, which wasn't easy considering he kept falling over, "I walk in with a gun and you think they'll believe me? There was no way I was getting my fingerprints all over that thing."

Allen sighed and shook his head while turning to look at him. "Which is why you put it in a bag without touching it." The gang leader looked away, trying not to look like he was sulking at his own ignorance.

Hitomi made a small smile. "Hold on." She turned around and straining over the seat, she started searching the backseat for something. She poked around Dragon, who offered a quick "watch it!", but didn't find what she wanted. She grabbed Dilandau by the shirt and pulled him forward until he leaned heavily on Allen's chair. "Great..." She mumbled as she pulled the bread bag out from where Dilandau's boney bum had been, all smushed. "Don't want this any more." She took the bread out of the bag and tossed it in the back, falling on Dragon's lap, who offered yet another "watch it!", but a bit more forceful this time. "Here." She handed Allen the bag. "You'd better do it."

"Heh, you think he can?" sneered Dragon, trying to regain some of his "tough guy" status, "My gang may have just been in a fight, but you walk in there and you won't be coming back carrying a gun." He smirked and added, "Maybe a few more bruises though."

"Then get your butt out and come with me. Remember, this is a favor we're doing for you." Allen got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"Wait a sec. I don't want to be alone with him, even if he is unconscious still," Hitomi grabbed the handle and got out.

"Hey!" cried Dragon as he opened his car door, trying not to let Dilandau fall out with him. "Someone has to stay with this idiot, and it can't be me since neither of you would ever make it back." He reached in his pocket and pulled out his switchblade. "Don't feel comfortable? Just keep this at his neck." He tossed the knife to Hitomi who caught it and flicked it open to take a look. "If you can whack him on the head with a pipe, I'm sure you can poke him once or twice if he wakes up."

"That was different," she muttered as she leaned on the hood, keeping her eye on Dilandau. "Hurry back."

"We'll see about that..." thought the gang leader wryly as he made his way to his warehouse. He was hoping they wouldn't meet up with any of his gang simply because he did not want to explain things. He'd managed to get Dilly out alright though, so Allen should be no problem, considering he was concious and walking on his own.

Allen followed Dragon inside. The place was a mess, not that it had ever been nice, but random people were laying on the floor in small pools of blood, groaning. Allen kept his eyes on Dragon's back as they quietly climbed the stairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, the gang leader turned to inspect the area where he and Dilandau had been fighting. He remembered kicking the gun away, but had no idea where it ended up. He just hoped no one in his gang had found it and taken it. After searching the floor for a minute and not finding it, he was getting a little worried that perhaps someone had picked it up, but he was relieved when he found it between some empty boxes.

"Hey, give me that bag, would ya?" Dragon yelled out to Allen who was currently looking behind a box that had an arrow pointing to the ground and upside down words reading "THIS SIDE UP".

Allen glanced at him, "You sure you don't want me to do it?"

The gang leader glared at the other man, walked over to him, and grabbed the bag out of his hand. "Yes." He put his hand in the bag, reached down and picked up the gun. "Alright, we got it. Now let's get out of here before you cause me any trouble."

Shrugging, the blonde bounded down the stairs and out the side door. "Let's go," he said to Hitomi who was leaning against the car with a wary eye on the dozing man inside.

"Okay." She jumped in as Allen started the engine.

Dragon opened the back door and after struggling with Dilandau's falling body, he squeezed in and slammed the door. Unfortunately Dilandau just would not lean the other way, leaving the other gang leader cramped. "Can we hurry it up?" he growled as he tried to shove the him away, failing miserably.

"We'll go the speed limit," Allen replied matter-of-factly. "I can't think of a worse scenario than this to get pulled over by the cops in."

Hitomi shrugged. She'd been in worse situations, but she wasn't about to protest that this would be a bad one. Glancing behind her, she saw Dragon clutching the bag with some random bread crumbs and the gun inside which, in turn, jogged her memory. "Hey, what'd you do with the other one?"

"Why do you care?" he replied defensively. Having Dilandau leaning on him was making him rather grumpy, even more so than usual. "You won't have to worry about it. It's not like you'll be around."

"Be around? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, what if I did keep it? You'll be off in some big mansion no where near here, so how would you ever know unless I told you? It's got nothing to do with you, so just drop it."

She turned in her seat to look at him. The confusion on her face turned to concern. Was he saying that he'd kept it? He, of all people, should know how dangerously stupid that was. Despite the forward request, she asked in a quiet voice, trying to hide her slight worry, "You aren't going to keep it, are you?"

The gang leader just looked at her and blinked. He had gotten a nice angry yell all ready for when she started her lecture, but considering that her tone was far from the accusing one he had been expecting, he was a bit at a loss for words. After a brief pause while trying to regain his train of thought, he eventually muttered, "Look, I'm not stupid, ok? Just because I borrowed it for a little while doesn't mean I plan on actually using it on somebody."

She looked at his face for a brief moment. He seemed, well, at least not angry. Glancing down, Hitomi noticed a fuzz on the chair and, picking it off, she said what she imagined would irritate him in the quietest, least blaming tone she could muster: "Well, it looked like you might have."

His face darkened a bit at the comment. "You think I would've have actually shot him? I only brought the gun because he always uses one. I had to make sure I came out on top, and that's just what happened."

She looked up at him for a split second before the words just about burst out her mouth. "Yeah, I think you really might have shot him!"

"Well I wouldn't have! Alright? Just because I'm not a saint like you doesn't mean I'd just go out shooting people! I wasn't exactly fond of you at first, but I didn't run off to find a gun so I could off you now did I?" he yelled back, fists clenched.

Allen, who had been minding his own business for the most part, mumbled, "But it seems you've become awfully fond of her since..."

A moment of awkward silence fell over the car, well, besides some light snoring from Dilandau, as what Allen said registered in the other passengers' brains. Dragon was the one who finally broke the temporary silence.

"Look, lawyer boy, I have no idea where you got a crazy idea like that, but I think you must've gotten punched one too many times. Do you have any idea how much trouble this wench has caused me?" The gang leader glanced out the window as he added, "So she's not as annoying as I first thought. That doesn't mean anything."

Dragon just caught Allen sorta rolling his eyes and smirking in the rearview mirror, but chose to ignore it. He had said more than enough.

Hitomi, noticing the slightly smug Allen and the oddly quiet Dragon, realized it was her turn to say something because the silence was growing more and more awkward by the second, but she wasn't sure what to think, let alone say. Finally, she said in a joking tone, "Well, I guess you're a little less pig-headed than I first thought."

The gang leader turned to glare at her. "Gee, thanks so - aww, no!" He cut himself off with a string of curses as he realized that Dilandau was indeed drooling on him.

"What? Upset we figured out you're just a big softy after all?" Hitomi teased.

"Can we just hurry up and get to the station already!"

* * *

"I can't believe you'd leave us hangin' like that. First you aren't even around when we need you most, and then you go and turn in Dilandau to the police without tellin' anyone about it," said a gang member in disbelief, "We're a gang, man, a team, and you start runnin' around solo?" 

Dragon looked around the warehouse at the beaten and bruised faces glaring back at him. After returning from the police station, which was quite an ordeal in and of itself, he was greeted by what was left of his gang bombarding him with questions and accusations. He wasn't sure he liked the direction the conversation was going.

"I didn't want any of you getting involved with the police," he explained for the third time, "As the leader it's my job to make sure the gang is safe, and that's what I was trying to do by turning Dilly in."

Chid spoke up. He had liked Dragon since they met. He would even say they were friends, but no friend would do this. "Dude, you didn't discuss it with us. You just up and left. You went to the police, for cryin' out loud. The police! Since when does any upright gang go to the police. We take care of our issues within the group! You've gotten soft, man. Soft. Ever since that girl showed up..."

"Hey! That girl has nothing to do with this, alright? She's not even living around here anymore, so let's just leave her out of this," he said, eyes narrowing. What did Hitomi have to do with this anyway? Sure, since she showed up, Dilandau had seemed a bit more tenacious than in the past and he'd actually attacked his gang while he was gone with Allen trying to find her... but that had nothing to do with it!

"Dragon," Chid began again, "You know you've been corrupted by her, man. Everyday you leave us. Every afternoon, you're hanging out with her. Don't think we didn't notice. And, even worse, when you're supposed to be with us, you sneak out to, well, you know, go make out with her or whatever." Chid, like any other healthy young man, would jump at the opportunity to hang out with a girl for a while, but he well knew that there were limits. His boys come first.

The leader stood there and blinked for a moment. Yeah, he left, but he was working, not hanging out with her. Well, in a way, it could be described as such since she was always there, but that was beside the point.

"I don't know who gave you that idea, but I can assure you I am not out with that wench!" came his slightly irritated reply. "First of all, she's not my type, and second of all she's got that lawyer boyfriend of her's. Every time I leave, it's for the good of the gang." He wasn't sure they'd buy that last part, but it was at least sort of true. People needed money to live.

"Stop trying to cover it up! We know what you're doing!" someone called from the back of the room while another voice called in a rather suggestive manner, "We saw her. Who's type isn't she?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he snapped. "I wouldn't lie to you guys! How long have we been together? Huh!" He clenched his fists. He just couldn't believe it was coming to this.

"Apparently, it doesn't matter how long we've been together," another gang member remarked, "You still seem to ditch us for what you think is more important."

Dragon was at a loss. He couldn't tell them why he was always gone. I mean, seriously, who ever heard of a gang leader having a job as a bagger at a grocery store? He looked around, studying everyone's faces. "Is this how you all really feel? You all seriously think that I've abandoned this gang?"

Everyone averted their eyes. The silence that followed more than answered his question. Without another word, Van turned and walked out of the old warehouse.

* * *

"So, it's over?" Momaru confirmed for something like the one hundredth time. 

"Yes, Momaru. I'm not going back. Tomorrow, I'm going to see Mr. Moleman and explain the situation, well, part of it, and tell him I'm not going to be able to continue work. Then, I will go to the grocery store and turn in my smock." She sighed. The thought of the whole business she and her brother had been through lately was more like a B movie than her life.

Her brother gave a small smile and sighed. "I'm glad," he said, his book in his lap, "I still don't know why you didn't just leave sooner."

She nodded slowly. "I had to try to make it work. Maybe someday this'll all make more sense. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble." She gave him a quick hug. "Let's just think about the future now. You have to start school soon, and I'm thinking I should as well."

"Yeah, that'd be good, I guess," he replied only half-heartedly. He was saved from having to fake any more interest as Allen walked into the room at that moment.

Hitomi glanced up, "Oh, hey, Allen."

"I was just coming to see if you're okay, wanted anything to drink or anything." Allen babbled. In all honesty, Hitomi and Momaru had been shut up in the room her brother had been staying in the past few weeks for more than two hours. Frankly, he wanted to see Hitomi.

"I think we're fine," she began, but was interrupted by Momaru.

"I think I'll go find Mr. Scherazade. He said he'd play Super Smash Brothers with me this afternoon." Momaru ran out of the room in search of the butler, leaving Allen and Hitomi.

"Uh... so, Yukari called earlier," Allen mentioned.

"Oh, I'll call her later."

Moving to lean on a nearby dresser, Allen looked at Hitomi. "So how are you doing?" he asked, "I know you had wanted to work things out on your own, but I think being here with Momaru will do you some good." He was trying to be supportive, but he wasn't sure if he was succeeding.

She made a weak smile. "Yeah, I suppose so."

The two remained in thoughtful silence for a few moments before Hitomi spoke up again. "Allen, you know I really appreciate all you've done for me, right?"

"Yeah," he said suspiciously.

"But this will only be temporary. I can't keep coming back for help," she explained softly.

"I never thought of it that way. You're my friend. Whatever you need, I will always be here for you." Allen crossed the room and sat down next to her.

She put her hand gently on his shoulder. "I know, and I appreciate it." There was a tone of finality in her voice that let Allen know she wouldn't be around much longer.

* * *

As Hitomi walked out of the grocery store, she noticed some renegade carts headed straight her way. 

"Hey, watch it lady!" yelled the orange clad bagger, only two carts left in his hands. Hitomi jumped out of the way, letting the carts crash into the side of the building. She looked up in time to see the bagger coming toward her, mumbling something under his breath as he reached for the fallen carts. When he stood up again, he finally started to growl an apology until he saw who it was he almost ran into.

"Oh, it's just you," said Van, adjusting his orange vest. "What are you doing back here? I thought you were off living with that boyfriend of yours?"

Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "Hello to you, too." Motioning to the entrance of the store, she added, "I was just turning in my smock. That's all."

"Well aren't you lucky," he replied as he shoved the carts into each other, "You got another job or just gonna live in the lap of luxury?"

"Why do you care? D'you have a better suggestion of a lap I should try out?" she asked sarcastically.

The bagger smirked, "Well, I do know of one that is currently unoccupied; however, it too is looking for somewhere to stay." He shrugged. "Too bad, huh?"

"What? Is your warehouse's lease up?" she teased.

"Yeah, something like that," he said with a bit more spitefulness than he meant to as he took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair.

She looked a bit confused. "What's that mean?"

He put his hat back on, studying the ground, "Well, apparently it was decided that as of late I wasn't being loyal enough, wasn't being a good leader. I wasn't there when they needed me most, so they decided it was time for a change. So yeah, look's like my lease is up."

Hitomi wasn't sure what to say. It sounded like one of those times to say something like, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," but, frankly, she wasn't. "Well," she ventured, "sounds like a good opportunity to take a step up in the world."

He gave a small chuckle and a knowing smirk. "I had a feeling you'd say something like that. I'm not looking forward to having to depend on this dump for my entire cash flow, but..." he sighed, "I think it's about time I moved on. They were a bunch of losers anyway."

Hitomi grinned at the loser comment. She could have said something mean, but decided against angering him. Instead, glancing at the chain around his neck, she offered, "It'd make your mom proud."

He reached for the ring, took it out of his shirt, and studied it for a minute. "Yeah, probably." Feeling like it was time to divert the attention away from himself, he said, "So you never answered my question. You got a new job somewhere, or have you decided you need a break from all the stress I put you through?"

"Yeah, well, I'm looking for a new job because I'm planning on starting college in a few weeks. But, I'll need one closer to school," she replied. "And a break from you would be nice too," she added with a smile.

"Now don't say that. You know you'll miss me." Seeing the skeptical look on her face, he continued on before she could take another jab at him. "So college, huh? Sounds boring. Sitting in a classroom, listening to a bunch of old people talk about a bunch of dead people."

"Better than being here the rest of my life," she snorted back. In the corner of her eye, she saw Amano mosey out of the store with a confused look on his face. He headed off in the other direction, searching the parking lot like he'd lost something. Maybe it was his mind.

Ok, so sure, Van wasn't exactly thrilled with his job, but he was the only one allowed to say out loud how much it sucked. "Well, I guess that all depends, doesn't it? What if you go to college and still end up with some crappy job? You could even end up worse off than me." Oh yeah. That would show her...

"Well, you're right. What jobs are better than wearing a stapled together, sweaty bright orange vest and collecting carts? I guess I just have huge dreams for myself. You know, you can have big dreams for yourself too. You don't have to stay here the rest of your life." Although her tone sounded a bit sarcastic, she meant it.

He snorted. "Could you honestly picture me in one of those little purple coats like lawyer boy? I wouldn't last 2 seconds in a place like that. I'll get out of here eventually. Maybe not some fancy job or anything, but I won't be pushing carts forever." He pulled at a loose piece of fabric on the vest and added, "And this vest may be sweaty, but it's got class."

Hitomi was about to make a snide comment, but Amano shouted from behind her, "There you are!" Both looked at him, confused. "I need the vest. I'm on carts." He was already sweaty from his quick walk around the parking lot which didn't bode well for the vest after another hour of cart duty with Amano. Van peeled the vest off himself and threw it at Amano who caught it, put it on, and warned the other bagger, "You'd better get inside. The manager is looking for you, especially since you're already ten minutes late."

He shrugged. "So what's new? But ya know, it's really hot out here, and I'm gettin' pretty thirsty. I think I'll go get a drink in the back first," he said with a smirk, glancing back at Hitomi with a slight nod before heading back inside, ignoring her obvious disapproval of his laziness.

Amano rolled his eyes at the other bagger. Being a relatively good bagger himself, that kind of attitude always irritated him. But, he wouldn't let it get to him. Instead, he glanced at Hitomi who was also turning to leave, mustered his enthusiasm, and called out, "Have an awesome day!"

The End

A/N: Haaaaaaaaa, ok, that's it! Now... I know a lot of people will be disappointed at the lack of Van and Hitomi-ness, but really, in order for them to get to that stage, we would have had to keep this story going a lot longer. They've got a lot of issues to work out, don't ya think? And we didn't think the story needed to go any further. We think the ending suits it, and we both hope that you do too. Anyway, as this is the last chapter of OGAG, for the last time, this is T4 and Gwydion, signing off.

Unless we decide to write another story, lol. (But to squelch any rumors now, no, there will be no sequel.)

And T4 was against me adding this to the end of this chapter, but I think it's too short to have as a whole separate chapter or even epilogue. Just know that to us this last segment is a joke, but we wanted to give our VanxHitomi fans SOMETHING (even though it's really corny (XD)). We actually stole it from something we wrote a while back, hahahahaha. But yes, here is your fanservice ending:

Hitomiopened the door of the car she had borrowed from Allen. It was some little sporty thing, but what did she care? Suddenly, there was a firm grasp on her arm. She whirled around to see Van. He reached his hand up and gently brushed away a loose piece of her hair. He leaned toward her, eyes closed. His lips caressed hers as his other hand supported her back in a soft embrace. The tender kiss lasted only a few moments, but the memory of it lasted much longer. He gently let her go, gazing into her eyes, waiting for her to speak. But, there were no words, only the shadow of a smile growing on her face.


End file.
